Janet Fitchtner draws inspiration for her upscale ladies handbags from automotive parts and related garage accoutrements. Fitchtner is keeping many of her three dozen or so designs under wraps until it's time to roll them out, but car grills inspired one of her initial offerings.

Every day, Fitchtner is surrounded by vehicle components and mechanics tools at the Second Wind Performance diesel shop in Casper, owned by Fitchtner and her husband Louie. About a year ago, she said the idea of using auto parts in fashion design hit her "like a ton of bricks."

And so, jlouise Handbags was born.

Despite the unusual source of inspiration, Fitchtner hopes her handbags have broad appeal. "These bags are so designer and so elegant that you can see almost every type of woman with them," she said. "And they're fun."



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