Style Saviour

Momoko’s Felin Natalia talks to Karina Saphiera about building a company based on trust

There’s nothing more important than taking care of those you love, including your cherished designer bags. Leaving a fashion item to decay is nothing short of abysmal but worry not because Momoko Bag & Shoes Spa Indonesia is here to fix the unfixable.

Walking into the room in a chic white co-ordinate is Felin Natalia, the head of Momoko Bag & Shoes Spa Indonesia. Founded by Siratcha Patcharasopachai in 2009 in Thailand, the franchise has earned an unparalleled reputation when it comes to cleaning, fixing, repairing, dyeing, and colouring fashion pieces that are worth millions to hundreds of million rupiahs.

The story of how Felin Natalia stumbled upon Momoko is a story of love at first sight. Famed for its waterproof Nano coating, Felin took a shot at the service during a trip to Thailand. “I was walking around town with my Nano-coated shoes from Momoko when it suddenly started to rain,” she says. “As would anyone, I had a flicker of doubt and quickly ran to my hotel bathroom to rinse off the mud—so imagine my surprise when I realised that my shoes were still waterproof!”

Going back and forth to Thailand to clean her bags and shoes proved difficult. So when she suddenly grasped that there was a business opportunity for the franchise in Indonesia, she needn’t have thought twice. Fast forward six months later and the accounting graduate was armed with certified training and the secrets to reversing time.

Today, Felin finds herself either at the office or spending time with her family. “Sometimes, I bring my 4 and 5 year olds to work, and it doesn’t take long for me to get distracted,” laughs Felin.

Since bringing Momoko to Indonesia in 2016, she and her team found a common denominator in their customers: trust—or lack thereof.

“There aren’t many bag and shoe spas that guarantee colour won’t fade during treatments,” she says. “No one would jeopardise their luxury fashion items if they didn’t trust the spa.”

Unbeknown to many, Momoko’s roots began as a leather manufacturer over the past 30 years, so it came as no surprise that the brand is anyone’s best bet in cleaning and revamping fashion items. “Bags are like skin: if you take care of it, it will stay supple and youthful,” says Felin.

While she takes pleasure in caring for her customers’ cherished items whether it be the Longchamps or the Hermès, two-tone bags such as Louis Vuitton’s epi leather items pose thrilling challenges. She explains: “To recolour such a leather, we need to paint one stroke at a time.”

This mother of two spends her days at the office ensuring quality control, relying on her sister and fellow colleagues to meet clients. “We’ve worked with celebrities who first only gave us few bags. Once they were pleased with the results, they would give us a whole set of their fashion items the next day,” smiles the businesswoman, saying that social media and word-of-mouth marketing work best.

“Moving forward, we hope to work with fashion brands by offering clients an after-service at Momoko upon buying an item,” says the youthful mastermind, also hinting that they will be launching a mobile app soon. There’s much to say about the artistry of Momoko Bag & Shoes Spa, but the proof is all in pictures. Momoko is undeniably the unsung hero that will save your bag’s life.

“Bags are like skin: if you take care of it, it will stay supple and youthful.”