My friend Gwen and I are in a meditation group together, and that’s where we met. I’ve gotten to know Gwen in these meetings, and I knew her husband had died several years ago. I did not know anything about him except she referred to him fondly from time to time. And that his name was Plato- which is probably the most awesome name, ever.
Gwen emailed me a couple days ago to see if I wanted to take a look at the custom handbags Plato created and whether I might want them for Second Serve Resale. I did not know much about Plato, and I certainly didn’t know that he created handbags. Anyway, shame on me, I never asked about Plato before. I totally should have.
It turns out both of Plato’s parents came to this country from Greece and they ended up living in Lynn, Massachusetts. His father eventually started and maintained a shoe factory in Epping, New Hampshire. It was in that shop Plato learned the leather craft and for many years, worked hard to assure that every shoe created was of the highest quality. Later in his life, having so enjoyed creating the fine leather items in the family factory, Plato began creating leather pieces on his own-as well as custom items for both women and men.
Gwen met Plato when she worked as a consultant out of Boston that helped certain businesses run more smoothly and efficiently. She found herself at the Kangis family shoe business and met Plato, and, apparently, that was that.
After the family shoe factory closed, Plato and Gwen made an adventure move to Port-au-prince, Haiti, where Plato started up his own factory creating high end leather belts. They lived there for eight years. However, after a time, with their parents and loved ones getting older, they decided to move back to this country and ended up in Newton, MA. It was in Newton that Plato began doing leather work on his own, much of it custom.
No ordinary grab-and-go purses, these creations are made of ostrich and alligator. Traditional black and brown styles are offered, but so are bags in colors reminiscent of grape soda and your mother's red lipstick.
After about 12 years living there, and wanting to live more in a city than a suburb, they moved to Providence in 1999. In 2000, Plato set up a custom leather workshop in their garage on East George Street, on the East Side. There, they worked together going to different handcraft shows and venues all over the East Coast, and fulfilling personal orders. Plato handbags were featured in “Rhode Island’s Best” in Rhode Island Monthly magazine in 2006:
Rhode Island leather artisan, Plato Kangis, meticulously handcrafts women's bags. No ordinary grab-and-go purses, these creations are made of ostrich and alligator. Traditional black and brown styles are offered, but so are bags in colors reminiscent of grape soda and your mother's red lipstick. Not inexpensive (prices soar into the thousands), Kangis's masterpieces...take our breath away. As is often the case when the caliber is high, calling ahead for an appointment is recommended.
As Gwen was telling me the whole story she started getting out the purses and my mouth fell open. Rhode Island Monthly got it right. These purses are masterpieces. Tiny stitches, sleek lines, pristine gold hardware, vibrant leather and texture- they are beautiful to behold.
It is an honor to be able to showcase these purses and the work of Plato and Gwen, and to be able to tell this story to everyone. Thank you Gwen for donating these masterpieces to Second Serve Resale and sharing your adventures and creations that came from your life with your soulmate Plato.
These are absolutely spectacular! And Plato was a pretty spectacular kind of guy! Thank you so much for sharing these, Gwen, and thank you, Amy, for telling their story!
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