The ultimate bag for mothers

This story hides a play on words. Because the protagonist, Josefina, is not called Josefina; in fact, Josefina does not exist. Who does exist is France Lamy Herbeau, the creator of the Josefina handbag firm. France is half French —born in Spain, of Gallic parents— and, twisting the loop, France lives in France. "I'm lucky to be here," she says, pointing to Paris through the window. But she likes to spend four months a year in Spain, her other homeland. "In Madrid and Comillas I am in my sauce".

At 39 years old, Lamy Herbeau sweeps her bags among her mothers: they are compartmentalized to store the bottle and diapers, but her aesthetics and external appearance is that of a fashion accessory. With a price of around 350 euros, she dispatches some 2,000 pieces a year, of which 40% stays in France, 20% goes to Spain and the rest is distributed on the international market. "It's already quite common to go down the street and see a josefina, but I keep getting nervous," she admits. "I couldn't be more proud."

She considers Josefina her third child, after the real ones, Olivia and Axel, because it was the birth of her eldest that led her to this project, designed in Paris and manufactured in Valencian workshops. The then twentysomething had worked in cosmetics giants such as L'Oréal and Nivea, to which she had come after studying Business. When she became pregnant with Olivia, she had her first revelation: while collecting all "that stuff" that children require, from tiny clothes to a crib, she was told that it was essential to get a bag to carry diapers and junk in the car. baby on a day-to-day basis… “I had never noticed that, and the truth is, I began to see some horrors…, hearts, teddy bears”, he recalls with grimaces. "It's okay that it should be designed for motherhood because you have to be able to put bottles in it, but it also has to serve me when I go to the office with my PC," she reflected at the time.

The second revelation came after she became a mother, nine years ago: "Suddenly I felt like changing things, leading a project." A year later, she left her job, started to shape her business and in 2014 she founded Josefina. She wanted a name in Spanish. For the choice, she was inspired by the famous Parisian multi-brand store Colette, which disappeared four years ago. "It was not a very nice name, something old, but it gave a super modern image, of a modern woman."

Not that everything has been rolling since then, but over the years it has grown with shoulder bags, travel bags, laptop sleeves... Always with skin as its emblem. “We are convinced of their quality —they are Spanish, Portuguese and Italian—. I don't know how many years I will be able to keep this promise, but the idea is to offer a repair service and always be there to fix them”.

The pandemic has hurt Josefina, like many other companies. “These have been very bad months, but we have managed to maintain sales. Above all, I didn't want to fire anyone." They weathered it like everyone else: with offers, discounts, gifts... And now, two new plays on the table: personalization —they combine the colors of her bags to add up to 30,000 possibilities— and solidarity. They donate to the Funtasia Foundation —created by the model and philanthropist Elisa Sednaoui and which trains teachers for children from Egypt, Italy or Mexico— all the profits from the bags printed by the Spanish illustrator Brianda Fitz-James Stuart. Ella lamy knows her from her time at Comillas: her mothers are friends of hers. The eternal Spanish-French connection of a woman from Madrid called France.