CALIFORNIA MADE

Cass is a line of luxury unisex accessories that’s 100% Californian in design, artisanship and attitude, created by designer Debra Szidon.

The Story

The Cass Clutch is the heart and soul of the collection. Its inspiration is a purse I picked up in a vintage shop many, many years ago. I’d never been much of a bag person, but when I picked up that bag, I could just feel the connection. And when I started carrying it regularly, I just felt … good, right, perfect, myself. Everyone should have things like that!

When the bag started to fall apart, it was like losing a best friend. So I created a new one, but better. For me, a great bag should make your life easier, so I designed it to work even better for me and my life: I’m a mom of three and a designer, so there’s a great deal of schlepping and juggling, and I needed a bag to make that easier.

And then, because I believe in supporting local business and manufacturing, I found a team in the Bay Area who worked with me to create the line. We launched on Kickstarter, and this Cass collection is the result: a line of bags of timeless design and impeccable quality with just the right amount of edge.

The Line

The Cass Clutch’s simple and flexible design allows it to transform smoothly from a stylish clutch to a useful tote or briefcase, easily holding a laptop as well as everyday essentials. To this, we added a system of accessories that work with the Cass Clutch, organizing everyone’s days with flair and style.

The collection features a palette of California-influenced perennial colors and Limited Edition seasonal shades of brilliance, intensity, and depth. Each bag varies slightly in color and nap due to the inherent characteristics of the hides, making each Cass Clutch naturally beautiful.

Designed to last and be passed on, it’s a bag that wants to be used and will change over time.

The line is manufactured in a small family owned and operated leather studio located in the San Francisco Bay Area. The hides for each bag are hand-selected and then sewn with the highest quality and craftsmanship. 

Cass sources local leather, which is a byproduct of the beef and dairy industry. No additional land or resources are required, and scrap leather from our larger products is used to make smaller complementary items of the Cass line. Cass is produced locally, which reduces transportation emissions and builds a vibrant and healthy local economy.

Raised on the East Coast, Debra “Cass” Szidon spent her formative years hanging out in New York City, and in her father’s auto body shop, where he restored classic cars.

Armed with a degree in horticulture (always a lover of plants) she picked up stakes and moved to San Francisco, where she managed Filamento, the legendary and sorely missed design and furnishings emporium on Fillmore Street.

A move to Boston saw her opening up her own furniture, accessories and botanicals store which in turn gave birth to a thriving, award-winning interior design business called Cocoon Home.

Debra lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family: husband Alex, daughter Zoe, twins Max and Benjamin, and a dog named Loki.