Veronica Beard is launching a handbag collection.
The fashion label founded by sisters-in-law Veronica Miele Beard and Veronica Swanson Beard is entering the category with a spring 2024 collection that will be available in February. There will be seven silhouettes designed in various sizes, fabrics and colors, with styles ranging in price from $398 to $598.
“What we’re trying to do is to serve [the customer] the whole lifestyle offering, and next comes the bags,” said Stephanie Unwin, president of Veronica Beard. “When we approached bags, of course, Veronica, Veronica and the team, we really thought about ‘What is she doing? Where is she going? How is she living and needing these bags?’”
The brand’s spring handbag collection is meant to offer a wide range of styles fit for a versatile customer base. Unwin highlighted hero styles as the collection’s The Crest bucket bag, which is designed in black, brown and white leather; The Crest drawstring crossbody, which is a two-tone canvas bag with a leather trim, and The Crest Lock Trap bag, which is a leather bag designed in a trapezoidal shape.
The collection embodies Veronica Beard’s “cool, classic and chic” ethos, according to Unwin, and leverages the brand’s design codes that customers have become familiar with. Many of the bags are designed with the brand’s signature “V” crest emblazoned on the leather and more subtly on the gold hardware. The Crest Tote Bag, for one, is designed in the shape of a “V,” also giving a nod back to the brand’s design elements.
Veronica Beard’s The Crest tote bag.
Courtesy of Veronica Beard
“We believe that this enables her to buy more frequently like we see with our ready-to-wear and jeans,” Unwin said about the brand’s core customers. “She may have Chanel in her closet, but she can buy at Veronica Beard once or twice a month, where she might only be buying designer once or twice a season. I think that’s part of the recipe of our success — that we do have an attainable luxury price point, but, most importantly, the quality and styling really lives up to her expectation.”
This is Veronica Beard’s second category expansion within accessories. In 2017, the brand launched footwear.
The brand’s handbag launch comes at a time of retail growth for Veronica Beard. This week, the brand is reopening its Madison Avenue flagship store after renovating the storefront to double its size. Veronica Beard is also opening stores in Beverly Hills and Newport Beach, Calif., and Naples and Tampa, Fla., later this year, and has other store openings planned for 2024.
Going forward, the brand plans to release new handbag collections four times a year. Veronica Beard intends to continue launching new handbag styles, while also building out the offerings of its core silhouettes. The handbags will first launch through Veronica Beard’s own direct-to-consumer channels. Unwin stated that DTC makes up 60 percent of Veronica Beard’s business.
“We have done research and surveys and [the customer] wants more from Veronica Beard,” Unwin said about the handbag launch. “It really comes back to that lifestyle. As we look back, we started footwear a few years ago and we started jeans about five years ago. We never race into anything. We’ve partnered with really seasoned, capable designers and merchants to develop this handbag collection. We were ready to take it on and the customer was looking for it.”
