If you keep an eye on the red carpet, you’ve probably seen one of Lana Marks’ glamorous, glimmering handbags on the arms of Hollywood elite. Known the world over for her bold, leather goods, the self-made designer has spent years developing an aesthetic that not only attracts the rich and discriminating to her wares, but, working from a broad, dramatic palette, also draws fashion plates from both sides of the political aisle.

“I love working with people I greatly admire and honor.” says the poised South African whose designs have added color and class to Madonna’s photo shoots and wardrobe, and Laura Bush’s second Inaugural outfit. “Laura Bush and Madonna – day and night, right?” continues Marks, “Still, they’re both people who, in their own ways and capacities, have achieved a lot for themselves. I design for that woman.”

Indeed, most anyone with a taste for color and style will find something in Marks’ massive stock of exquisitely crafted bags and accessories. “I’m creating for a broad spectrum of customers,” says Marks of her wide appeal, “everyone from Beyonce to the Park Avenue ladies, from actresses to princesses. That’s why, at any given time, I have 150 models in 100 colors.”

But it wasn’t always so. Indeed, Marks’ masterful creations began with only one design in mind and only one target customer, herself. In the mid-80s, living abroad with her husband, Marks was invited to a cocktail luncheon with none other than the Queen of England aboard her royal yacht, the Britannia.

“It was the perfect opportunity to rationalize buying a beautiful, red, alligator handbag to go with my wonderful dress,” says the designer who, though she grew up aware of exotic leathers, owned little in the way of luxury skinned goods at the time. “I looked everywhere but I couldn’t find anything that was at my taste level. I realized then that there was a niche for handbags coated in fabulous colors and skins.”

Though she didn’t have the bag she wanted for her first royal encounter, Marks, a self-described “Triple Type-A Personality,” turned this minor disappointment into a major life change. Embarking on two years of research, wrangling with top-shelf European tanneries and factories and pushing the limits of her untapped design abilities, Marks eventually managed to create that perfect, red-alligator-leather-lunchbox handbag and four other arresting designs for her first, self-financed collection. “I still have in my closet,” she says of the purse that launched her career, “the bag I should have had.”