Most handbags play it safe. They’re designed to blend in, to signal status, or to serve function quietly. Goyoki chooses another path entirely. Sculptural, expressive, and deeply intentional, the Toronto-based label transforms fashion into a tool for self-possession and political dialogue. At its center is Sage Golestaneh, the architectural engineer turned designer, who is using 3D printing not just to innovate, but to provoke.
Her breakout piece, Boobina, is a sculptural handbag shaped in the likeness of the female torso — a visual reclaiming of space, identity, and body autonomy. It’s the kind of design that can’t be ignored, not just because of its bold silhouette, but because of the values embedded within its form. Goyoki is about taking up space, unapologetically, in a world that often asks women to shrink.
In this interview, Sage speaks with honesty and clarity about the creative process behind Goyoki, her deeply personal motivations, and the challenges of launching a brand that is anything but conventional.
Can you take us back to the moment Boobina first came to life? What was going through your mind creatively and emotionally?
Boobina was quite honestly an unplanned design that manifested itself one night late in my studio apartment while I was a master’s student in business school. One of my creative outlets is digital art, and I would spend whatever free time I had in the evenings designing concepts. I knew I wanted to come up with a unique design that spoke to me but felt stuck trying to find the right one. One evening, I came across female-body-inspired art while browsing Pinterest and it just struck me. I immediately began sketching out ideas for a handbag using that form. After refining it in my design software and completing the render, I felt like I had landed on our signature piece. Boobina was the design with which I wanted to introduce Goyoki to the world.
What inspired the form and message behind Boobina? Was it shaped more by personal experience, political intention, or artistic expression?
A bit of all three, but I will lean on the side of artistic expression. I did not want Boobina to convey a purely sexual object. I wanted it to communicate an appreciation, a form of beauty that too often is sexualized. I had many people offer me unsolicited suggestions for subsequent designs that were very sexual in nature. And while I recognize the intentions were not inherently bad, I wanted to make clear that it was not the only thing Goyoki stood for. As a Persian woman, the fight for gender equality and freedom is deeply personal. Boobina was born from that urgency, a response to gender apartheid and the ongoing challenges women face across the world. When I launched Boobina, I thought of it as owning my space — taking back power and reclaiming it as our own. It’s the ability to be completely unapologetic in our beliefs.
What does your collaboration with Wearshop Montreal bring to the creation process, and why was it important to partner with a woman-owned business?
Gabriella Salvi, the founder of Wearshop, was a great collaborator to have for Goyoki and I am very grateful to have found her. I reached out to all the Canadian leather specialists I could find, struggling to find someone with both the capabilities and the desire to work with us as a startup. It was incredibly important to me to work with a local craftsperson, to support other Canadian entrepreneurs, and to strengthen our internal relationships in this turbulent time for Canadian businesses. From our first call, she believed in me and conveyed genuine excitement. As a bag designer herself, Gabriella had the design eye, and she could sense that we were looking for guidance as we created something new. It meant a lot that we were able to source our pouches from her, crafted with 100% leather and suede. Empowering women, especially entrepreneurs, is a core part of my values and I’m very proud to be able to do so.
With only one in three bags meeting your standards and each taking around 20 hours to produce, how do you manage the balance between quality, sustainability, profitability, and scale?
It’s definitely a challenge when it comes to a niche product that can’t be mass-produced in its infancy, but I think that’s what makes each bag so special. We use a tough PLA in our 3D printing stage, spray-coat the bag for protection, and assemble it with the handle and pouch. It can take up to 20 hours between printing and quality control. We run ultra-slow settings on our printer to ensure print lines are thin and the shell is smooth, giving the bag a cleaner feel overall. We know our current set-up has its limitations, but it also has a lot of benefits. Using 3D printers instead of traditional cast molds allows us to quickly iterate and explore different designs. We’re truly enjoying the process. It feels incredibly personal and is the ultimate testament to slow, intentional fashion. We want to make the best bag we can and send a strong message while we’re at it.
What role do you believe fashion should play in political and cultural conversations, particularly regarding body autonomy and gender equality?
Fashion has and always will be a form of political stance, whether directly or indirectly. From the time women transitioned out of corsets, to wearing pants, to later wearing suits, lab coats, and uniforms — each moment has marked a significant political and cultural shift.
Fashion has long served as both an outlet and a statement, evident in red carpet moments like Lady Gaga’s meat dress, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “Tax the Rich” gown, and Harry Styles wearing skirts to challenge gender norms. But these statements don’t need to be limited to high-profile events or celebrities. They can be part of an everyday ethos.
What has been the most difficult lesson you’ve learned as both a designer and entrepreneur, and what has helped you persevere?
That the challenges never end. There is always something to figure out. Before I started my business, I naively believed that things would eventually start to flow on their own. In reality, you have to learn to be every kind of person. I turned into a coder, a creative director, a product developer, and a prototyper. It took weeks of development just to get the digital mesh right and numerous print attempts before we got a usable one. There were challenges with finding a supplier for accessories and getting items delivered on time.
What has helped me persevere is the joy and satisfaction I get from learning something and being able to implement it right away. It’s easier to not give up when you’re fueling a fire. It has allowed me to take real ownership of a brand I’m really proud of, one that represents what I stand for.
How do you hope Goyoki empowers those who wear your pieces, beyond just making a bold fashion statement?
The most important thing to us is that our customers interpret Goyoki in their own way, whether that’s through a lens that’s artistic, political, or deeply personal. I want them to feel like Goyoki belongs to them, to turn it into something that feels authentic and true to who they are.
Our mantra is to be unapologetically yourself. That kind of empowerment doesn’t need to look a certain way. It isn’t up to me how it shows up. I just hope it gives people confidence.
Before the age of 17, I was so focused on fitting in. I wanted what everyone else had, even if I didn’t actually like it. I just wanted to belong. But in my late teens, I started to develop my own sense of style, which gave me a completely new sense of confidence. I began to feel proud of standing out. And that’s what I hope Goyoki inspires in others.
What kind of legacy do you want Goyoki to leave behind, both in the fashion industry and in the wider cultural conversation? What would feel meaningful to look back on ten years from now?
That’s a great question. I hope Goyoki can help shift the conversation around how things are made and who they’re made for. I’d love for us to be known not only for our design language, but also for our use of alternative materials and nontraditional manufacturing methods. Many conventional processes don’t allow for the same level of flexibility and rapid iteration.
If we can carve out a pocket in the fashion industry, one that embraces experimentation and uses unconventional methods at scale, I’ll feel like we’ve done something right. Beyond that, I want Goyoki to be a continuous conversation starter. Boobina is just the beginning. My hope is that people feel seen through the brand. Looking back ten years from now, starting a movement that stood for boldness and the right to take up space — that’s the kind of legacy that would truly mean something.