When I first stepped into the world of luxury handbag design, I didn’t realize how many years would pass before I turned 40.
After slowing down—having built my name as a designer in New York—I discovered that nothing truly feels more couture than family. Not the handbags, not the ateliers, not the meticulous craftsmanship… not even the intoxicating new-car scent of a custom luxury handbag. It was family.
After a decade of pursuing dreams, I realized the ultimate luxury isn’t only in accessories—it’s in the rare, limited-edition moments you share with the people you love. Family is the collectible you cherish with your whole life.
And now, as I’m stepping into a new designer role—
I’m going to become a mother.
Yes, loves. After years of gallivanting and being an avid millennial, we’re here.
Now—I heard that balancing these two worlds can collapse if I’m not careful: my dream of becoming a top American designer and starting a family. This was, well, an epiphanous challenge.
So I’ll share with you my top 5 invisible stitches that has been holding me together these last fashion seasons…
1) the most luxurious gift is presence- not presents.
People often ask me why I love the art of handbags.
Not “holiday-alert” giving… but the real kind—the nudge that says:
“I saw this, it reminded me of you. I hope when you carry this, you think of me.”
In my Liselle Kiss life, gifts have always been a love language. When I create a bespoke handbag for a client, it isn’t just a handbag; it’s a moment. A carefully chosen place in time that says:
I see who you are. And I love you for it.
But motherhood—this new luxury—has taken that philosophy and elevated it.
Because the truest gift isn’t the object.
It’s the moment of becoming.
As my body changed, my pregnancy brain fog got so intense, my schedule stopped, as this tiny miracle began shaping my body and decisions. Although I was feeling weak, I realized that this new presence is the present.
It’s the one gift you can’t two-day-ship.
2) stories are how we keep our loved ones feel loved.
Storytelling is another form of love language.
My career shapes the stories I’ll one day pass on of ambition and never giving up hope.
My family shapes the laughter behind those stories and their encouragement.
Every entrepreneur fears losing themselves.
Every mother fears the same.
Both roles whisper, “Will you still be you?”
But I realized an unexpected truth:
I’ve never been more me.
My maternity journey taught me that I can build a business and a family; I just needed to understand that they don’t compete—they assimilate. Constantly.
If there was a day I’ve ever doubted myself as an entrepreneur, it was those one or two baby kicks that took me away from pondering about my potential and reminded me of my future.
A little nudge or encouraging story to a family member are what we can use to encourage one another, and expand our capabilities.
3) moments are not measured in minutes, but in meaning
There’s a beautiful irony here.
Luxury brands obsess over craftsmanship—how long something takes, how intentionally it’s made, how nothing is rushed.
But in life, we rush. Constantly.
We run from meeting to meeting, task to task, dream to dream.
Pregnancy forced me into a new pace.
A slower one.
A very slow one. Molasses.
Yet I realized, despite the hormonal changes and brain fog, that
Not all moments need to be productive.
The moment I heard the heartbeat.
The moment I saw tiny fingers on a scan.
The moment I felt the tiny kick, following my finger tips…
That moment?
It felt like time itself gave me space.
Moments are a luxury not because they’re rare, but because they’re felt.
The memories that we carry is really what gives life meaning.
4) family is the fuel, not the friction.
Modern goal-setting and entrepreneurship sometimes sells this idea:
“You can have a family or a career, but you can’t have both.”
Let me say this clearly and unwaveringly:
Family and career are not rivals.
They can be dance partners.
One grounds you; the other elevates you.
One gives purpose; the other gives direction.
One teaches sincerity; the other teaches greatness.
My new journey didn’t pull me away from my ambitions.
It clarified them.
It refined them.
It stripped them of ego and draped them in love.
When you work from love instead of pressure, the work becomes sharper, more meaningful, more potent. Family doesn’t slow you. It stabilizes you, like the perfectly weighted base on a lamp that keeps it upright when storms come.
Life is not about choosing between success and affection.
It’s about merging them beautifully.
I want my child to see that a family can build things—grand things, global things—and still cherish the love and softness of home.
I want them to know that love is expressed not just in milestones but in small sincere, gestures.
I want them to grow up surrounded by stories that remind them: they were wanted, chosen, prayed for, and provided for.
And I want them to learn that the greatest luxury of all… isn’t purchased.
It’s lived, remembered, and carried by those who we love.
—Liselle Kiss
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