Pick me: A model showcases Dowa'€™s leather trimming and nylon crochet bags. (Courtesy of Dowa)

Bags are an integral part of a woman'€™s life. Women everywhere carry bags, sometimes more than one. Inside their larger bags, women often carry pouches containing her cell phone, wallet and perhaps a lip gloss.

Some women favor a particular bag for certain occasions, others have a larger collection. Both types, however, always choose their bags with their hearts.            

Over the past few years, several Indonesian women, who love bags, have tapped into this large market. Two of them are Delia Murwihartini from Yogyakarta with Dowa Bag (dowabag.com) and Melissa Sunjaya (tulisan.com) from Jakarta with Tulisan. Both women design bags that are handmade and feature skillful craftsmanship. Melissa even draws all the illustrations printed on her products herself.

While Dowa Bag is an established brand, Tulisan, since beginning production in 2010, has captured the hearts of many women in big cities.

'€œIn the beginning, I wanted to make handmade knick knacks that featured unique illustrations,'€ Melissa said. Tulisan may be famous for its bags and totes but it also produces other textile items such as pillow cases, aprons and place mats. But Tulisan'€™s most famous products are its bags and totes.

To each illustration series, Melissa attaches a story. Some of the stories are based on Indonesian folklore. For example, Lutung Kasarung was the inspiration behind the illustration series'€™ The Secret Garden of Admiral Kasarung, Roro Mendut and Bawang Merah Bawang Putih (Red Onion White Onion), which are all limited or collector'€™s editions.

The illustrations that are produced in larger quantities feature details from stories such as the Les Papillons de Victor story, Roro Mendut and the story of Admiral Kasarung.

Melissa and her mostly female team print on thick canvas, often using the silk-screen method. The canvas is then layered with thin plastic to make it waterproof. Most of Tulisan'€™s bags and totes are large, Melissa said as a graphic designer and a mother she often had to carry a lot of things. '€œSo I thought, why not make a bag that can hold everything that is sturdy so women like me do not have to carry multiple bags,'€ she said.

Her passion paid off. From the small beginning of few meters of canvas and a Singer sewing machine, Tulisan has grown into an enterprise with a number of designers and seamstresses. Its retail sector has grown from the online shop tulisan.com and a flagship store in Darmawangsa Square in South Jakarta to dozens of retail partners in the United States, Hong Kong and Mexico. Tulisan also opened a pop-up store in Plaza Indonesia, Central Jakarta.

Delia'€™s Dowa Bag has also conquered the international market. Starting from a reseller of Yogyakarta'€™s leather bags, she is now a successful entrepreneur. She moved from leather bags to hand crocheted bags after a tip from her friend in Italy.

She first produced bags for other brands like the US'€™ The Sak. After supplying bags to other designers, she started her own brand and opened a gallery in the outskirts of Yogyakarta on Jl. Godean. For many women who travel to Yogyakarta, a visit to Dowa gallery, although located not in the center of the city, is a must.

Delia said she always followed international fashion weeks for inspiration.

To maintain customers'€™ satisfaction, both women do not aim to mass produce the bags.

Dowa Bag only has one flagship store in Yogyakarta and only one consignment partnership with Novotel Hotel in Yogyakarta.

Delia said she owed a lot of Dowa'€™s sales to becak (pedicab) and taxi drivers in Yogyakarta, who take customers from outside Yogyakarta to her relatively remote store. Her store is on the half-rural, half-residential road of Jl. Godean. The fashionable gallery looks like a chic store that would not look out of place in a mall.

The exclusivity and craftsmanship of both brands translate into their prices. Dowa Bags range from Rp 600,000 (US$49.20) to Rp 800,000 and Tulisan the same. Tulisan'€™s limited edition pieces can fetch more than Rp 1 million.

Both Delia and Melissa said the prices were justified by the high-quality.

Liana, who works in the creative industry, said she carried her Tulisan bag with pride. Liana, who collected branded bags including international famous brands, said a woman once complimented her on her Tulisan bag and said she also loved Tulisan products.

'€œMy Tulisan bag drew the same admiration of any international brand.'€