SÈVY New York: Haiti in a Handbag
Sévère Erase Ilfraïm is a wife, mother, and the designer behind SÈVY New York, specializing in handbags and accessories. Holding a lifelong interest in fashion that began with an appreciation for her mother’s carefully put together ensembles, Sévère explained that SÈVY New York actually came about by accident.
One Christmas season, she spotted a bag that she really wanted to buy. Short on cash, Sévère asked her mother if she could purchase the bag for her. Although Sévère’s mother did not grant her wish, she gave her $50 to buy materials with which to make her own bag. This Sévère did, and soon she was making bags for her friends as well. Her mother pushed her to turn her bag making into a business, and so SÈVY New York was born.
Though Sévère credits her mother with helping her to start the business, she explained that it was her father who really made the business possible and whom her company is named after, “SÈVY is my dad’s name backwards—Yves. And a lot of people think it’s because it’s my nickname. And it’s not. It’s because it’s my dad who taught me how to sew. My mom gave me the idea, and my dad followed through with helping me, so I named SÈVY because of him. It’s Yves backwards, but SÈVY means to serve as well.” Sévère went on to say, “. . . each piece that i do, I really try to tie in something that has to do with the Haitian culture or someone from the Haitian culture.”
Sévère was born in Aux Cayes, Haiti. Originally coming to the United States on vacation, political unrest back home led her mother to move with her children (Sévère and her siblings) to the states permanently, while Sévère’s father remained in Haiti. Sévère’s memories of Haiti and life with her family there, however, stay fresh in her mind and are cultural references to which SÈVY New York pays tribute.
Sévère’s most recent collection was called ‘Quand Jeté’, a mashup that refers to both the summer season and memories of her childhood back in Haiti. Recollections of specific objects became inspirations for particular pieces in the collection. A wooden boîte de secret her father made for her by hand, along with memories of sucking mango juice straight from the fruit led to her creation of the Tot Tot bag. Her Den Den bag was inspired by a djakout she found herself standing next to in an old photograph, while Den Den is also her nickname. Working with luxurious leathers in bright colors, Sévère sews together memories, culture, and style.
Always seeking to better herself, however, Sévère is also currently attending the prestigious Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in Manhattan. After earning a bachelor’s degree in speech pathology from Brooklyn College in 2011, Sévère realized that this field was not her passion and applied for the accessories design program there. Although she did get in, she was considered an international student, which made tuition unaffordable, and then followed her husband to Maryland where he was stationed in the Navy. When they returned, Sévère realized that her passion for fashion lingered, but found herself applying to FIT’s fashion design program just three days before the deadline, hurriedly putting her portfolio together. She was waitlisted, but decided to take some classes at FIT and went on to be accepted into the school’s accessories design program. Sévère spoke about what she hopes to gain from school, “I really believe in talent, and I feel like I’ve been riding my talent all along. . . God has shown so much grace to me that I have been riding on my talent. . . as well as some skills. . . But there’s nothing like combining talent and skills together, so I feel like FIT is going to give me the skills that I need to take SÈVY to the next level.” And school work becomes business. Sévère mentioned, “The handbag that I’m working on for class right now, I’m trying to perfect it, so I can make it presentable on my website.”
Her husband currently deployed, balancing motherhood, school, and business can be hard at times, but Sévère related that prayer and exercise has brought some calm. When asked how, with everything going on in her life, she also maintains the inspiration to create, Sévère explained, “Summer was really hard for our family. We went through a whole lot, and during that time I was not very productive, except for orders that I was getting. But what I had to learn is that whole process—I have to be better today than yesterday. And when I don’t have something that inspires me, like maybe a pattern or something that I see somebody wearing, or what’s hot from the runway, I think it’s that mostly—to be better today than yesterday.”
