Collegiate Plaids

 

Two moms with six boys between them – it makes sense that they’d want to get into the purse business…

 

Collegiate Plaids is a privately held, Women-owned, company headquartered outside of Charlotte, North Carolina with joint ownership between Margo B. MacQuarrie and Kris A. Lloyd.

 

Margo Ball MacQuarrie is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame.  Her desire to enter a sports-related career led her to law school, where she received her Juris Doctor from the University of Toledo before moving into the field of sports law.  She worked in the sports law field in both Atlanta, Georgia and Charlotte, North Carolina prior to starting a family.  She and her husband now have four young boys.  Before launching Collegiate Plaids, Margo’s legal work was spent volunteering on several different boards: Notre Dame National Monogram Club / Varsity Athletic Club, Charlotte-area Catholic School Board, and the Notre Dame Alumni Association National Board.

 

Kris Ann Lloyd is a graduate of Southern Polytechnic State University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering.  She spent several years working in a variety of technical positions within IBM, Hewlett Packard, and Ryland Homes.  Her work in these organizations led her to begin expanding her design skills beyond the work computer and into the home as she moved on to start a family.  Kris’ creativity with design, fabrics, and sewing began producing everything from clothing to draperies to fashion accessories.  Her creative talent and ability to “see and sew” has allowed her to create designs for all of Collegiate Plaids’ products, develop piece-by-piece patterns for manufacturing, and document instructions for cost-effective textile production.  Kris and her husband live outside Charlotte, North Carolina and are the proud parents of two young boys.

 

They say that luck is where opportunity meets persistence.  If that is true, then Collegiate Plaids certainly carries the Luck 'O the Irish with them. Founded on friendship and steeped in tradition, Collegiate Plaids began in 2004 with Margo's alma mater - the University of Notre Dame – searching for something classic, attractive and functional in the form of a handbag/purse to carry to Notre Dame functions. At the time, Margo was serving on the Alumni Board and heard the request first-hand. She went to Kris and asked her to design and create a couple of samples that would meet Notre Dame’s requirements. Those initial designs were met with such enthusiasm that Collegiate Plaids was formed and six additional designs – in styles that expanded well beyond a simple handbag – were quickly presented to the University and brought to market. Today, a broad line of handbags, totes, and accessories can be purchased by students, alumnae, family, and fans alike in a growing number of collegiate collections and through a variety of channels. 

 

Since launching those initial two handbag designs in 2004, the line has expanded to over fifteen separate products and thousand of units being sold. The University of Notre Dame has given Collegiate Plaids handbags and totes as gifts to NBC executives, athletic department officials, coaches’ wives, Heisman Trophy winners’ wives, and Fiesta Bowl guests of honor. The company has also overseen the donation of significant monies to the Notre Dame Alumni Association through their exclusive Giveback Program providing additional value to the partnership between the University and Collegiate Plaids.