Luxist: Tell me about the famous King’s Road bags.

Jane August: It’s my signature bag; it’s become sort of like my iconic bag. The original bag I found was on King’s Road in London when I was doing a sample trip — this was back when I worked for Macy’s California. My sample bags broke, so I went into a hardware store and I asked for a bag. I thought maybe they’d have a big canvas bag, and the man brought me out this bag in linen. I still have the original bag. Many years later, when I started to do this labor of love [designing], my mother visited me and she had it with her. I was like, “you’ve gotta give me the bag.” I immediately sent it to my manufacturers in Italy. We made it in linen and then it evolved into leather.

L: And now it’s gold and silver python.

JA: Now it’s gold and silver python. I’ve started to change it a little bit, because some of my favorite designers have literally knocked it off.

L: Well, that’s flattering, right?

JA: It is flattering, but it’s not. (laughs) So I’ve updated it. It has different seams, and on some styles I’ve done an outside pocket. [see gallery]

L: It’s really great.

JA: And it’s very lightweight. I think what happens with women is they start with a bag that’s too heavy, and then they start layering more and more into it until they’re basically carrying a suitcase around. And ten years later they’re in physical therapy.

L: Right.

JA: So everything is really, extremely light. And with this bag, you don’t even need a zipper at the top. There’s no way anyone can get into it.