Like many things in life, Peryton began as a form of creative expression, born from the abstract, but genuine desire to inhabit a new reality. As a successful commercial real estate lawyer, I yearned to exist in a place where ideas intersect with inspiration and innovation to produce a tangible result. A place where passion and beauty could stand side by side with logic and analysis.
As this dream took shape over the course of several years, I continued to lawyer by day and create by night. I discovered the ‘Peryton’ while paging through the “Book of Imaginary Beings” by Jorge Luis Borges. I felt an instant connection to this fictional, winged creature. Half falcon and half stag. Like me, the Peryton occupied space in dual realities, splitting its persona in two. My career-obsessed, ‘tough girl’ persona recognized herself in the Peryton’s ferocious, fearless strength while the feminine creator in me felt close to the aspirational, winged free-spirit.
The Peryton was so much more than just an inspiration. It gave me the courage I needed to live my dream. Its wings represented my late nights away from the office, free to dream up wild ideas – like how I was going to create this new American luxury brand that focused on fine materials and beautiful craftsmanship. And the will and determination I would need to turn the wild idea into reality. I knew the name Peryton was perfect. It said more about me and what I went through to reclaim my creative mojo than my own name did.
Expressing the balance between the masculine and the feminine is an important aspect of the Peryton that I wanted to convey in the brand. My professional life mirrored this dichotomy, and yet, so does my personal style. I have always preferred a clean, minimal aesthetic that looks strong and reserved on the outside, yet one that remains truly feminine on the inside.
Throughout the collection, you will see elegant, streamlined silhouettes and minimal details but also subtle, deliberate references to the Peryton. Hooves take shape as handles and closures. The quill of a feather adds a playful touch to the structural forms. Fantasy and reality marry in classic lines with unexpected details and rich combinations of colors and skins.
Transforming my life from lawyer to an accessory designer wasn’t the most obvious endeavor, but one that has been extremely satisfying. I’d like to think that there are many women just like me who want to be taken seriously in the world but also want beautiful bags (among other things) that are unique and feel like an extension of themselves. I love a bag that makes someone take notice and ask – who makes that? That’s when you know you’ve done something special.
–GL.
I am influenced by time. The way it connects and separates. The way it plays no favorites. The way it rushes you and makes you wait. And whether I am utilizing it well.
I am obsessed with facts. Information. Details. Process. Logic. How things are designed and made. Why they function. Yet —
I am moved by mythology and fairytales. The stories we tell each other to elevate the human experience and embolden ourselves. Or to explain things we don’t understand fully.
I like to connect dots. Not so much the literal ones — but the dots that represent disparate things, ideas, feelings, characteristics, positions, textures and colors.
I am private and protective. I wear armor. But I also want to share and connect. And then hide. But be known somehow.
My name is Gina Love. I am the daughter of an artist and an engineer.
I am Jamaican and American. I grew up in small towns dreaming of big cities.
I went to law school. All the while wondering whether I should have gone to design school.
I moved to New York to practice real estate at a large national law firm and, after a number of years, I joined an even larger international law firm. I enjoyed the work and I liked the idea that I was involved in the quintessence of the city — it’s skyline. But —
I loved taking night and weekend classes at the International Center of Photography and Parsons School of Design.
I bought a camera and, during free weekends, I photographed the city, her people and architecture, which I documented in a photography blog called The Photodiarist. Not long after that —
I created Peryton.
If law firm life moved quickly and often without respite, then Peryton came to life in slow motion. While practicing law full-time, I designed, sketched, constructed, edited, tested, organized, researched, net-worked, sourced and problem-solved over a period of five years before launching the brand. Which made me realize that —
I do not have to choose sides. Be it problem solving over poetry. Or art over functional design. Critical thinking over storytelling. Or meticulous planning over going where the wind blows. Eventually, I found a way to use it all. To connect the dots that represent my multiple facets, passions and interests.
The result is peryton.com, a new American luxury brand.
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04/22/2022 - 15:35