Painting on designer handbags by Shirin Watwani

Shirin Watwani is a Billy Blue College of Design at Torrens University graduate and marquage artist who puts her mark on designer bags.

Yes, that’s right – if someone’s looking for a new way to stand out, they can do so by getting Shirin to paint their bag. These aren’t just any bags – check out Shirin’s Instagram feed to see all kinds of bags from Valentino, Goyard, Louis Vuitton, and Helmer decorated with her delicate brush strokes and depicting all kinds of amazing scenes.

"The knowledge and experience I gained when I was studying at Billy Blue was priceless."

Shirin graduated back in 2002 with an Advanced Diploma in Graphic Design. After finishing her studies she went back home to Chennai, India, and started working in the field. Shirin and a close friend decided to start their own graphic design company called Paperworks, which proved very busy and helped clients with all forms of branding, print collateral and wedding cards. After 10 years, they chose to give the business a rest and Shirin decided to pick up an old hobby and rediscover her love of painting once again.

In 2017, Shirin held a debut solo art show with 25 canvases and sold everything within mere hours.

After seeing all of Shirin amazing canvases, a friend of hers asked if she could paint her handbag. Shirin enjoyed the process and loved the final result and so her new venture was born.

Shirin credits Billy Blue for helping her to set herself apart from the rest and for arming her with the right tools during her practice as a graphic designer and as an artist.

“My sense of proportion, colours and forms can all be attributed to the exposure I got at Billy Blue.”

With regards to the fact that Shirin was an international student, she says it actually increased her confidence and she loved all of the exposure to different cultures.

“The application process and requirements were so simple and before I knew it I was in Sydney”.

Shirin absolutely loves every bit of what she does and encourages every budding designer to create their own style and always hold it close, even when working on briefs for someone else.

If you’re interested in creating your own path and you dream of loving what you do, check out our courses and see what inspires you – just like Shirin did.