Local bag designer is going to the Oscars

In her 22-year career as the founder, CEO and owner of Maxx New York, Cherie Christmas has designed bags for many high-profile events, including Barack Obama’s inaugural ball, and for countless celebrities. But she’s never been to an event as filled with head-turning fashion as the Oscars.

Until now.

On Friday, a small bag designed by Ms. Christmas, 47, will be included in a larger gift bag stuffed with beauty and fashion products. The larger bags filled with swag will be given out to about 250 guests at a pre-Oscars party hosted by QVC at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles.

“It’s basically giving a gift to 200 people you don’t know,” Ms. Christmas said.

The Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 7.

“I’m very excited,” Ms. Christmas said, after securing her Oscar debut through QVC, the television shopping network she has been working closely with for about 10 years.

Ms. Christmas, who lives in Remsenburg, decided to use a bag that she designed for herself while she was traveling through Europe last summer. She nicknamed it the “take it and go” purse because it’s just big enough to hold a small camera, cash, credit cards, a cell phone, lip gloss and a pen. It also comes with a small, circular mirror.

The gold chain for the gold, quilted leather purse can be strapped across a woman’s body or can be doubled up to transform the purse into a shoulder bag. The chain can also be worn as a fashion belt or as a necklace, which was how Ms. Christmas was wearing it during a recent interview at her home.

The handbag has already sold out on her company’s website, www.maxxnewyork.com, but some are still available on the QVC website. Ms. Christmas said she plans on ordering more in time for an anticipated demand after the Oscars.

Maxx New York handbags have been featured in Glamour, Oprah and Harper’s Bazaar magazines among others, and have been spotted on the arms and shoulders of celebrities. Two years ago, one of her handbags was worn by Kyra Sedgwick, the main character in the TNT television show “The Closer.” Ms. Sedgwick plays Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson, a former Atlanta detective who leads a special homicide unit of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Ms. Christmas said that she also frequently donates her bags to charity events. Last summer, she donated thousands of dollars worth of handbags to the Super Saturday sales event, which is hosted by QVC and benefits the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund.

Ms. Christmas said that she’s proud to make high quality, practical handbags. She described herself as “the momma” of handbags, saying she was one of the first to make handbags with separate compartments and decorated linings.

“My motto is, ‘it’s what inside that counts,’” she said. “Which is basically a metaphor for life and handbags.”