The story of Maison Aphrodite, a Quebec handbag brand

Two creators, one vision: reinventing Quebec handbags with passion, design, and authenticity

 

From a young age, we carried a big dream: to follow in the footsteps of great entrepreneurs like Gabrielle Chasnel or Emily Weiss.

As children, we were driven by the desire to create, to share our passion and creativity with those around us. As teenagers, amidst sketches, mood boards, and dreamy ideas, that passion was already there, along with the dream of one day launching a fashion handbag brand that truly reflected who we are.

Time passed, and our paths first took very different directions. Léa dreamed of psychoanalysis, fascinated by the human soul, while Catherine envisioned herself as a doctor, guided by precision and challenge. But soon, a part of us felt incomplete. Our creativity was missing. We chose to reignite the flame: Léa turned to marketing and sociology, Catherine to fashion and design. These choices would change everything and unbeknownst to us at the time lay the foundation for our future handbag brand.

It was at the start of our university journey that our paths crossed for the first time. An encounter that would change everything.

Driven by the same dreams and passions, our bond quickly grew. As the saying goes, we were like yin and yang.

In the summer of 2024, Maison Aphrodite was born.

Catherine, half-serious, half-amused, mentioned that she wanted to start a business with Léa. A shiver of excitement ran through us, followed by a moment of doubt: were we really serious? We answered each other with a smile: “Stop! Yes!” And that’s when the magic happened.

We were on the same wavelength. From a young age, we had both dreamed of a project that would allow us to express our creativity while bringing something new into the world. We talked about it all summer and by the end of August 2024 we decided to turn our ideas into reality. It was a mix of fear and excitement but we were ready to take this step together.

From the very beginning, this adventure has been marked by laughter, tears, stress, and intense joy, a rollercoaster of emotions that we would gladly ride over and over again.

Through our Quebec-made bags, we hope to share with you this energy, this passion, and this desire to create that drives us. Maison Aphrodite is so much more than a brand. It’s a dream, a journey, and a tribute to our creativity, our bond, and our determination to fulfill a need while having fun. Because life is too short to try to be like everyone else.

We can’t wait to share this dream with you and to grow Maison Aphrodite, our handbag brand, with the same passion we had on day one.