ABOUt us
Designing, developing and manufacturing so many different products for our clients is a natural extension of everything Laura has been doing during her design career over the last 20 years in New York City. She started as a fashion stylist here and has always found Manhattan to be the perfect canvas on which to create. She feels that there is always a hum on the streets here, a hum that gets into your veins, and motivates you to bring to fruition a dream. She shares that passion with every new client she meets.
Her experience styling for clients like Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, In Style and Oprah as well as a bevy of similar fashion brands has taught her that sometimes the trends being depicted are not what consumers really want over time. By being able to shape the fashion trend of the moment in her styling career, she has learned how to work with our clients to tailor and develop products that have tremendous appeal in the marketplace. As a manufacturer herself of her own line of handbags found at ClutchBags.com, she has learned the trade secrets in sourcing materials, designing products, and creating good profit margins. This expertise has our clients returning to us again and again with their manufacturing, design and product development needs. Made in USA pays!
Laura Dotolo
Principal
Born in Porto Alegre, Brazil, Luane has been interested in fashion since she was just a kid sewing doll clothes. This passion intensified while living in New York City and studying Fashion Design at Parsons.
For her, fashion and accessories are a way to express yourself and communicate without words. When she’s designing something, Luane goes for a feminine yet simple aesthetic, inspired by the possibility to make someone else’s day better with pieces that bring beauty and practicality to women. Even though she loves everything related to the fashion industry, her favorite part is production, where you can take a drawing and a piece of fabric and make them come alive.
Besides fashion designing, Luane also loves to explore the city with her friends, hang out with her dog and order takeout to eat while binge watching her favorite shows.
Luane Miguel
Project Design Manager
Srishti Dhawan
Designer
Born in Delhi, India, Srishti has always loved designing. She has a dual degree in fashion design, graduating Summa Cum Laude from the Fashion Institute of Technology, SUNY, as well as being an award winning gold medalist from The National Institute of Fashion Technology in India.
Living in the global fashion capital of New York City has helped Srishti discover the nuances of fashion while being amongst the best of global talent.
Designing for Srishti means getting inspired, imbibing and expressing her emotions within it. She loves designing accessories, which she feels go beyond apparel and add essential value to the overall ambience, mood and occasion of dressing. Accessories that accentuate the overall fashion ensemble is what she strives to accomplish when designing. With a minimalistic design approach, she intends to convey her ideas in the “less is more” style.
Ever since she was a five year old child, the sense of balance, rhythm, proportion and symmetry were instilled in her through the practice of ballet.
When she’s not working, she loves spending time exploring the city streets and enjoys taking peaceful walks in landscaped parks under the bright sun.
Selma is a French-Norwegian Product Design student at Parsons School of Design whose work explores the emotional and sensory relationships we build with the objects around us. Her passion for leatherwork and metal crafting reflects her belief that good design should be both enduring and intimate. Selma is especially interested in the transition from idea to prototype through design production and hands-on craftsmanship.
With a background in fine arts and minors in Graphic Design and Philosophy, she brings a multidisciplinary approach to everything she creates, from tactile accessories to conceptual storytelling. When she’s not working on her design projects, she’s often oil painting, writing, or building mood boards for ideas for future accessory collections.
Selma Danesi-Vold
Sourcing Project Assistant
Mallory Pangilinan
Jr. Multimedia Designer
Born and raised in Texas, Mallory is a multidisciplinary designer with a love for storytelling, visual identity, and creating work that connects people across difference. Now based in New York City, she is currently studying Design and Technology at Parsons School of Design.
​
A first-generation Asian-American woman, Mallory brings a unique lens to her work. One that blends cultural curiosity with a drive to make design more inclusive, empathetic, and human-centered. Her experience spans UX design, branding, photography, and creative coding, with past collaborations ranging from fashion startups and record labels to community organizations and tech platforms.
​
Design, for Mallory, is a way of processing the world, of making the invisible visible. Whether she’s creating playful visual systems, or redesigning a user experience, she strives to build meaning through form, material, and motion. Her work often draws from personal memory, culture, and everyday moments that might otherwise go unnoticed.
​
When she’s not designing, you’ll find her sipping matcha in the East Village, wandering into secondhand bookstores, or quietly photographing soft light as it falls on city sidewalks.
A true master artisan, Mr. Kim has spent over 30 years perfecting the art of leather craftsmanship. At the Clutch Made Factory, he plays a key role in both sample making and overseeing production, ensuring each piece reflects the highest level of quality and detail. His calm focus and steady hands have made him an essential part of our team and a mentor to younger artisans in the studio.
Outside of work, Mr. Kim finds joy in fishing upstate, and practicing traditional Korean calligraphy. A quiet and thoughtful soul, he says his favorite part of living in New York is the balance it offers—between the buzz of the city and the peace he finds by the water.
Mr. Kim
Master Artisan
​
Our master artisan Young Choi comes to Clutch Made from South Korea where he worked as an engineer before moving to New York to pursue his artful profession.
A family man with two children, Young Choi is a natural leader at our New York City factory. Apart from his knowledge of mixing the finest colors of paint for precise edge painting, Young Choi is our very own Jack in the Beanstalk, having nurtured an ivy plant that drapes the entire length of the Clutch Made factory.
​
What Young likes best about this city? "New York has given me the opportunity to develop and master my craft. I love the diversity within the city, and my Korean community in Queens. And of course, Korean barbecue!"
Mr. Choi
Master Artisan
A man of few words and many talents, Mr. Kang has mastered the art of sewing leather handbags throughout his 40 + years in the craft. His expertise and vigilante attention to detail have earned him the accolade as one of the key contributors to our Clutch Made Team.
When not at the factory, Mr. Kang spends his time in Flushing Queens, where he enjoys his church and restaurant communities. If you have any questions about where to eat in Flushing, Mr. Kang is the go-to man. He knows all of the spots and secret hole-in-the-wall restaurants for everything Korean.
When asked what he enjoys most about New York City, Mr. Kang immediately replies, “taking walks with my lovely wife”.
Mr. Kang
Master Artisan
​
Patty, as she is known at Clutch Made, is all Pace University business mixed with a large splash of fun! A Jersey Girl through and through, Patty enjoys the Jersey Shore, staying fit, beaching it and reading all! When not making plans to go to the movies, it is most likely she is out on the town heading for Italian food instead.
On the business side, Patty keeps all our accounting records in impeccable order so we can maintain our everyday schedule at the factory and keep all services moving along in a timely and efficient manner. If ever a question arises in regards to invoicing and billing, Patty is your go to Clutch Made Team member.
Patty’s take on the energy of New York City” “Always something to do at anytime of the day or night”.
Patricia Saggio
Comptroller
​