And his awesome daughter Kate Falchi, whose designing a leather line for the brand. I don’t give people compliments just because, and these two are the real deal. Forget New York attitude. I don’t think that they could have been sweeter. Kate gave me a hug even though we had just met, posed with a giant gold python satchel, and fondly told the story of her father’s start when he was dying handbags in his bathtub. I learned that his foray into handbags came when Bendel’s asked for a hundred in one week’s time. He had one handbag that he was using at the time and told them, “No problem.”

Carlos is still incredibly excited about the line, unpacking each bag and deciding how to display them this morning. Kate is equally as happy not just for her father’s success, but to add her own flair to the line, starting with lower-priced leather designs. There was even a deconstructed leather jacket and shearling vest that I dream about wearing one day. All of the bags are deconstructed (read: no lining) and sans hardware, making them impossibly lightweight.

I also learned about the animal skins and the safe practices that the brand uses. They actually pay poachers to save Python eggs. They raise half of them on their own to live long lives (“The longer the life, the better the skin,” says Kate.) and free half back into the wild. This keeps more animals on the planet and provides them with the exotic skins they love to make handbags.

The studio where all of the bags are made is right next to the showroom. There are no secrets, every product is made in the U.S., and custom orders are absolutely welcome because they can accommodate any request since they’re literally doing it right there.

If you get a chance tomorrow, please stop in and meet Carlos and Kate, the dynamic duo behind Carlos Falchi handbags. He even brought his own metallic markers to autograph bags.