April 25, 2019

Ever since she was a little girl, Katie Iverson dreamed of carrying a bag by designer Louis Vuitton.

“To me, it meant that you ‘had made it’ and you were a force to be reckoned with,” said Iverson, who earned a degree in fashion retail merchandising at the Art Institute International of Minnesota.

There, she interned at Bergdorf Goodman in New York City in the buying office for the designer handbag and accessories department and the dream designer was all around her.

“Just this alone was a dream come true, and the knowledge was priceless,” Iverson said. “Every day we got to go to the offices of Chanel, Gucci, Dior, Louis Vuitton, and I learned there how to easily spot a fake or knockoff bag or accessory.”

Fast-forward a few years, and Iverson started her own boutique, Glamour Defined, first online and then in a Harrisburg storefront in 2017.

In April 2018, she added a new division: Designer Arm Candy, offering slightly used designer handbags and other accessories from names such as Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Gucci.

“Our main mission with Designer Arm Candy is to give women who want a piece of the luxury handbag world, but don’t want to pay full retail, a piece of it,” Iverson said. “All of our bags are guaranteed 100 percent authentic or your money back.”

In the past year, the business has sold to more than 300 customers in 49 states. It also offers custom orders for bags and other accessories.

To celebrate the one-year anniversary, Designer Arm Candy will offer a large selection of bags from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at Glamour Defined at 220 S. Cliff Ave. in Harrisburg. Some bags typically are carried in the store, but this is a larger selection in a variety of styles, along with wristlets, belts, key chains, Apple watch bands and tumblers.

The business also will launch designerarmcandy.com on Sunday. Previously, the bags were sold through Glamour Defined’s website.