The breast cancer survivor built a leather handbag brand around a mission of empowering women
The House of Juls founder Juliette Mills Lutterodt
For Juliette Mills Lutterodt, a breast cancer diagnosis led to an internationally reaching fashion brand with a mission of celebrating the beauty and resilience of women. The founder, who immigrated from Ghana to study cosmetology, later relocated with her family to Summerville, where she underwent her second round of chemotherapy in 2008.
Inspired by her fashion-forward mother and aunties, Mills Lutterodt traveled to Italy to work with leather manufacturers on her “Juls Collection,” a line of luxury handbags crafted by female artisans. Her signature designs, including the popular “Leaf” and “Butterfly” styles, are distributed around the world, finding success in domestic markets like Atlanta and Charleston, as well as her native Ghana.
Mills Lutterodt launched The House of Juls, her larger line of handbags and accessories, in 2012, operating out of Collaboration Clothing Store. This spring, the brand moved into Palmetto Row Collectives on King Street, a storefront showcasing minority-owned businesses including She Biology Skincare and The Original Charleo Co. “I never felt King Street would be affordable for me,” Mills-Lutterodt says. “To be in a shared space there takes my brand to a whole new level.”
The founder offers counseling and support to women facing breast cancer, both locally and in Ghana during annual missions, through her own foundation, Pink for Africa, which receives a portion of proceeds from all sales.
