about the designer

Sunny Woan is a corporate attorney working as general counsel for an international venture capital firm. In her spare time, she enjoys reading and writing fiction, cooking, and designing handbags. She launched Taryn Zhang with her husband James Zhang, a financial analyst.

Sunny’s creative works have been published in Fifth Wednesday Journal, Blue Earth Review, SoMa Literary Review, Houston Literary Review, Identity Theory, among others. Sunny continues to serve as Managing Editor of Kartika Review, an Asian American literary journal she founded in 2007. In addition, her law review articles have been published in The Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice Law, Temple Journal of Science, Technology, and Environmental Law, Santa Clara Law Review, and Cal. Western Law Review.

FUNCTION

Taryn Zhang handbags serve the working woman. Back zipper pockets, front or side open pockets allow easy accessibility to items such as her phone, keys, or business cards, etc. The interior is designed with open slots for her personal technology, makeup products, and other items a woman would foreseeably take with her to the office. The larger structured bags all fit standard 8.5" x 11" manila file folders, notebooks, and notepads, and are also sturdy enough for laptops and textbooks, which make them ideal for university students.

FORM

Designs are bold and structured, expressing concepts of modern feminism through geometry, polygons, color choices, and bold lines and silhouettes. Thoughtful detailing, each aspect representative of character traits, offer visual interest to the bags. Even when the design isn't symmetrical, there is equilibrium, an important element to Taryn Zhang designs. A primary aesthetic goal is to achieve balance through the fusion of both symmetry and asymmetry. Throughout each collection, contrast stitching or the pairing of light and dark colors represent the duality in women and the final balance of our duality.
 

COMPASSION

Taryn Zhang handbags are made with a durable, high-quality microfiber vegan leather, and thus cruelty-free and animal-friendly. This was an important ideology for the brand. If the brand used genuine leather and one day reached mass production, then it would invariably contribute to the killing of animals, which the animal-loving designers, business associates, and friends of Taryn Zhang could not in good conscience proceed with. Also, many family members of the designer Sunny Woan are vegan or vegetarian, and out of respect for them, the brand stands by an animal-free, cruelty-free policy.

The company also offers a Pro Bono discount to customers who perform charitable work. Taryn Zhang is doing its part to encourage public service. Thus, when a customer performs 5 hours of community service to any qualifying non-profit organization, she or he will be eligible for a 10% discount off any order placed directly through the Taryn Zhang website. Of course for administrative efficiency, certain terms and conditions will apply. For more details, see Terms of Use.

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