Jada Holmes, a designer and content producer, rocks a cropped jacket made of see-through vinyl depicting aquatic creatures swimming within the silhouette.
"This outfit goes with my aquarium-tank purse," Holmes explains. The 24-year-old’s "aquarium-tank purse" is a 20-gallon container that she's outfitted with ornamental fish, gravel, and other components included in a typical starter fish owner's kit.
On TikTok, where she has approximately 600,000 followers, Holmes has become known for these bags. While only some of them are functional, all of them are fabulous. From Holmes's perspective, any object can serve as a purse. “If it has handles, that's good enough for me; it doesn't even have to be portable or useful.”
Holmes, who uses the username @afropuffjada on the video-sharing app, has created a style that stands out among the many unconventional looks that have emerged thanks to TikTok. Her 3D-modeled cereal-bowl bag, in which she used actual cereal and a spoon to complete the fantasy of a morning bowl of cereal, is one of her most well-known works, and it has gone viral outside of the app. Resin glue keeps it together, and it features a thin yet durable strap and a back pocket.
Her favorite go-to outfit consists of a two-piece skirt set in a neutral shade of gray, a pair of Air Jordan Cool Greys, and a matching glass coffee table. She made a hand-bedazzled ranch-bottle satchel and a Ruffles bag purse that put a fresh spin on the expression "all that and a bag of chips" to poke fun at trends like little purses. Holmes has partnered with Microsoft and GOAT thanks to her audacity and ingenuity.
Holmes may have started her page as a comedic account, but she takes her work far more seriously than the totes suggest. “I can understand the comic potential, but seriously, who is going to convert a toilet into a handbag?” she said.
She has studied some of the pioneers in the fashion industry because she has a passion for the field. “I take a lot of my style cues from Dapper Dan," she gushes. “I really admire his ability to reimagine familiar objects in fresh ways, and I find much of his art to be quite appealing. He gives them an interesting twist." With the rise of high-octane, campy fashion, it's fun to watch a young, creative designer pose with an aquarium like it's a canvas tote from Target while wearing an ornate, over-the-top creation.
Many of her projects are swiftly realized after she gets a spark of creativity and visits the Joann Fabrics store. "Typically, I begin by searching for some cloth.” She reveals that "it's actually the cloth that you use to make blankets." She is afraid of having her work copied, so she doesn't want to go into detail about how she actually makes her purses beyond the straps. "Someone recreated the cereal purse a few days ago," she explains. “Everywhere I go, stores are trying to copy and sell my designs. And that's the way the cookie crumbles.”
