Armed with her clothing manufacturing background, Ria found her way into the New York fashion industry by landing her first job at the prestigious fashion house of Halston. Influenced by her love of metal and colour, her entrepreneurial spirit emerged, leading her to design RIA handbags. Ria’s inspiration came from the cultures of industrial and lush Trinidad & Tobago and the ever evolving concrete jungle of New York City.
Exotic skins, leather, suede, and canvas coupled with industrial inspired stainless steel mesh and other metals came together in the RIA handbag collection. RIA has been carried at over 150 boutiques world wide including Harrods London, Barneys NY and Seibu in Japan. RIA is coveted by A-list celebrities, socialites and Fashion editors along with being featured in Womens Wear Daily, Lucky, Glamour, Teen Vogue, Essence, Wall Street Journal in addition to many others.
She is currently working on her eponymous Handbag Collection as well as an exclusive Ready to Wear collection to be produced and launched in Trinidad & Tobago. She is also a founding partner at a Special event catering firm in Manhattan (which happens to be her second passion in life).