Tracy Arnold and Tracy Dyer

Who: Tracy Arnold (right) and Tracy Dyer—the two Tracys—said goodbye to corporate marketing careers and hello to designing handbags. The former co-workers started Urban Junket in response to what women were saying was missing in the handbag marketplace.

What’s Your Handle?: “Our brand name represents a balance and juxtaposition of how we live our lives,” says Arnold. “Urban speaks to the city or being local within your smaller world, but junket is more about venturing out, a journey, an experience.”

Purse Curse: “If a bag is cool, it’s not functional. If it’s functional, it’s not cool. Why sacrifice one for the other?” says Dyer. “It’s less about status and more about solving a problem.”

Great Grips: Designed by the Tracys, and made in Italian factories, the collection of “work/life” bags can hold everything a woman takes along with her on her daily journeys. “If you say ‘Italian,’ there’s an understanding of quality,” Arnold says. “From an aesthetic and design standpoint, we wanted quality. Cheap materials and cheap labor wouldn’t meet our needs.”

Tote ‘em: The chic bags work for co-eds, Yuppies, moms, and other women on-the-go. The pair also co-design other brands with Italian designers and sell through U.S. fashion boutiques.

In the Bag: “Things just fall into place when you are doing what you are supposed to do,” says Dyer. Future plans include working with young U. S. designers who have an aspiration to have a line of their own and helping them produce it.

Find Urban Junket bags at Ensemble, Walker Art Center, StyledLife, Grethen House, Karma, Gallery 360, Blanc de Blanc, Corazon, and Local Motion. Go to mspmag's Shops Guide .