Baton Rouge designer turns diaper bags into high-end accessories

Photos courtesy AlmaRose

By Amanda Capritto

The diaper bag—frumpy, bland and awkward to carry, right?

Not anymore, thanks to Almashea Spotser. This Baton Rouge native is the creative mind behind AlmaRose, a line of bright, bold diaper bags made from Italian pebble leather.

Her concept is simple: She wanted to create a stylish bag to serve a parent’s every need.

Spotser, a mom doubling as a businesswoman and military wife, had her lightbulb-moment about three years ago. A new mom, the 33-year-old quickly realized how tiresome it was to carry a heavy diaper bag, a work bag and her baby all at once.

“I needed a bag that could do it all,” she says.

In 2014, just two years after forming the idea for AlmaRose’s stylish and functional diaper bags, Spotser had a full website running and was making sales.

Despite the original focus on diaper bags, these bags are versatile. The side pockets designed for baby bottles can also hold a coffee thermos; the large interior meant for toys can hold flats to change into after a long day in heels.

AlmaRose bags come in three designs—the Lydia, the Claire and the Maxine. The bags vary slightly in size and design, and color options include black, cognac and Kelly green. All three designs cost between $150 and $200.

Each bag comes with a smaller, removable bag and a changing mat. While the bags are catered toward a female audience, Spotser is currently working on products to appeal to dads, too.

From her first sketches to prototypes to finished goods, Spotser says her journey with AlmaRose has been fun, challenging and eye-opening. Today, she is working on more than 20 new designs, and it’s been so rewarding to watch a simple idea become a tangible product, she says.

“There’s a lot of time, a lot of love and a lot of thought put into these bags,” she says.

AlmaRose bags are sold online at almarosebags.com and at Baby Lane in Towne Center. Spotser says she hopes to eventually have her products on the shelves of many more retailers, including department stores such as Lord and Taylor, Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom, and Baton Rouge boutiques such as Mom and Baby Boutique and All About Baby.

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