History and Timeline of 1154 LILL Studio: Custom Handbags

ABOUT LILL
our story
meet our founder
locations
news & press
careers

1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010

Unfulfilled in her job as a corporate interior designer, Jennifer Velarde starts thinking about ways she might add more creativity and independence to her life. She sketches thoughts, drawings and business ideas on napkins and hotel notepads while traveling for her job and pulls out her old sewing machine to bring her creations to life. The very first LILL Bags are created in her small studio condo at 1154 W. Lill Street in Chicago, the first place she owns and the first time she lives by herself. The bags, made of remnant fabric swatches and samples, are praised by both friends and strangers when Jen carries them about town.