Design: Now a Democracy

      

        Oh if only I had that bag. It has such an "It" factor about it, and it would totally transform me into a sophisticated lady overnight!

No, it's not the next "It" designer bag by Marc Jacobs, it's a handcrafted leather handbag made by a sweet young couple in Morocco. They're selling this bag through Etsy.com, a social commerce site that provides a means through which individuals can sell handmade items like clothes, furniture, art, jewelry, and toys.

It's super cute, but more importantly it's a sign that more voices are being added to the international conversation about design. The people of design are no longer only those who may be considered "authorities" on the subject, or those who have scored a contract with an international retailer.  In terms of fashion, it's no longer only a handful of elite fashion designers, editors, retailers and critics dictating to the rest of us what makes good design this season. These old "institutions" if you may, no longer hold the mythical power they once had. Now, anyone can proclaim themselves as an authority on the subject and start up their own blog or website or tweet to express their opinions of this season's designer collections, without having, say, more "professional" knowledge of what makes good design and innovation.

  Instead of being obscure craftsman with independent websites no one will probably ever see, different sellers' products are displayed on Etsy in the same layout as a big retailer's web site. This new model of selling your own manufactured products seems to be the beginning of a sort of democratization of design.  

Though a lot of sellers on Etsy don't achieve prominent success, some manage to make a living manufacturing their own products instead of trying to convince big retailers to carry their wares. Though Etsy has a long way to go in terms of providing the same grand scale as big retailers, it may mark the beginning of a challenge to professional designers and institutions who have in the past dictated what makes good design. Who are the people of design now? Maybe everyone.

*Photo courtesy of Etsy.com, from the seller chicleather