Throughout the year we’ve been featuring inspiring women who’ve taken the plunge into the world of entrepreneurship. It’s risky, frightening and takes serious guts but if it pays off, it’s overwhelmingly rewarding. This month, we’re introducing you to Amie Fitt, founder of Sparro Designs, a brand producing genuine yet stylish carry-alls that consolidate the many bags we typically carry from workout to work.
Like all ingenious ideas, Sparro was born out of a desire to fix a personal problem. “My week days, like many a busy female, started with an early alarm. I was up and out of the house before sunrise; running or in the gym before heading to work. With this routine, I left the house each day with my essentials—clothes, shoes, toiletries, laptop, wallet, breakfast, lunch, snacks, stuff—a lot of stuff, and lots of bags. My life in bags,” Amie told us.
At the time, Amie was living in Melbourne and working in a high-pressure corporate career. Getting to work on time was essential but so too was her AM sweat session. As a busy working woman, she wasn’t the only one battling this daily frustration but it wasn’t until she relocated to the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong in 2014 that she realised just how universal it was.
“Every busy, fitness-focused working woman I came across was carrying her life in bags. Moreover, we were all making a frustrating compromise between form and function. We’d either be using a stylish assortment of bags that looked good but were functionally useless, or an armful of functional bags that were, well, daggy … Surprisingly, none appeared to be designed with women in mind—where do I put my dry shampoo or steaming hot hair straighter?” she laughs.
The idea planted a seed, but it wasn’t until 12 months ago that Amie decided to take the plunge. “I resigned from my 13-year tenure working with global brands to focus on [the] idea that had been bubbling in my head for far too long.” And with a vision to create a range of genuine, yet stylish carry-alls that consolidate the many bags we typically carry from workout to work, Sparro was born.
Designed to “ease the load” for women who “juggle”, Sparro is a testament to the early bird. “The one who pushes back the covers and gets up before the sun. The one who fumbles in the dark in an attempt not to wake the house. The one who, thanks to an alarm set at sparrow’s f*rt, has been known to arrive at the gym with her top on inside-out (or backwards—sometimes both).”
Launching earlier this year, the debut collection comprises three styles in four colourways. On the surface, they’re streamlined and chic but underneath they’re intricately engineered with several compartments to separate your workout gear from your work needs. There’s an inner shoe bag, dirty laundry area with an antimicrobial lining, a laptop pouch and even a heatproof pocket for your hair straightener. Plus, they’re tough so they won’t break under the weight of it all.
“The transition from employee to entrepreneur has proven equal parts incredible and terrifying,” Amie told us. But after perusing the range, we’re sure it’ll pay off. After all, if we’re going to have our life represented by a bag, we may as well pass it off as a glamorous one.
The Female-Founded Startup Making Designer Bags For The Gym
