Yosef H Creates a Special Feeling by Embracing the Real Which is Often Lost in Today's Fashion World.
Jared Handler designs quality one-of-a-kind handcrafted pieces that canât be found by just walking into any accessories department.Â
Handler grew up in Merrick, N.Y. and moved to New York City in 2000 to attend The Fashion Institute of Technology. He studied business, not fashion, but he was always around it. Handler said that after he graduated in 2003 he decided to make his girlfriend at the time a vest out of shearling. He said people saw it and loved it, and it gave him the inspiration to go out and look for other materials. Handler began creating designs in hisspare time. He said, âIâm inspired by stuff thatâs real, thatâs old, thatâs handcrafted, thatâs one of a kind, and not going to go out of style. Itâs not just a trend, but itâs something thatâs classic and people could use or rock or wear forever.âÂ
Handler worked for New York Life selling life insurance and annuities from 2004 to 2005. He was given the opportunity to interview for a sales position selling medical equipment. Handler said, âI felt it was a more secure career path, so I decided to interview, and I got the job.â He started selling medical equipment in 2006. Handler tested his designs around the world when he sold medical equipment. His parents gave him a hard time because he was spending thousands of dollars on materials he wasnât selling, but he didnât listen. Handler said, âI just believed that I had something that was special and different and knew that once I was ready to take it to stores is when it would really do well.â
Handler currently works out of his studio in Chelsea, where he manually stitches the bracelets on his great aunt's vintage sewing machine from the early 1900s. He found it in the basement of his house in Long Island, N.Y. and brought it into the city to get fixed. He has been sewing on it ever since. He said, âAfter vests it became belts and then after belts was bracelets. It was really more about just the material itself so I was actually sourcing leathers and then I found snakeskin from just going into stores. I became obsessed with snakeskin and then the colors and then I found python. I became obsessed with the texture.â
Jared set up his website and licensed the brand, Yosef H, in 2007. He said, âIt was my Hebrew name and then I switched it to my middle name. My great grandfatherâs name was Joseph who my mom tells me Iâm just like, so Yosef H, itâs more about who I am than my first name.â
Handler showed his designs for the first time in a department store at Henri Bendel in New York City in 2008. Boutiques around the world sell his designs, including several in Costa Rica, Italy, Dubai, Canada, and Mexico.
Handlerâs designs were featured in In Style Magazine. He says, âHaving them come to me was key because thatâs when I knew what I was doing, and that I was doing it well. It wasnât PR; it wasnât someone knocking on a door. It was all about them finding the brand, liking it and then making it happen. To me it solidified myself as a brand and as a designer and from there I knew I was heading in the right direction.â
He has donated many pieces over the years to various charities, including Crohnsâs and Colitis Organizations, Red Cross, and Childrenâs Museum of Manhattan. Handler is willing to work with anyone to donate pieces.
Handler explains that his brand creates a special feeling for the customer, like the feeling when a girl finds something they are not familiar with and get compliments. Handler says, âThatâs my goal, is to basically create those pieces and keep it fresh, keep it relevant. Not just to do snakeskin, not just to do python, but to use the highest quality possible combined with incredible colors that just arenât your normal average colors. With hardware that I fabricate from scratch and combine it all. Itâs something unique.â
Website: http://yosefh.comÂ
