I love making things with my hands, experimenting, testing ideas and bringing them to life. I love making things for people and giving voice to a design.

My creative energy grew when I learned to draft and think technically about a creative idea. This led to a career in interior design and then architecture.

In 2017, I made my first leather bag. I wanted a beautiful bag that represented the kind of designer and architect I aspired to be. It would be modern, clean, simple, but very functional; casual and also look amazing dressed up. This was the first iteration of the Lee Bag. 

In 2019, I accepted an architecture internship in Mexico City. During a meeting, I met my first leather bag client, sitting on the rooftop of this castle-like courtyard building. He picked up my bag and asked who it belonged to and where they got it. I made him 3 bags in total.

The name Contra was created to embody this pushback against mass production and against the capitalist mode of work. I think it also marks the point in my career where I finally decided to trust myself and follow my own path. In my arch. career, which I worked so hard to achieve, I was missing something: a hands-on way of creating and collaborating. Contra creates a space where I can do all of this (while still dreaming about building my own home one day!).