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Can a puffy, utilitarian tote — perfect for gym runs and weekend trips — be the next “it” bag? By positioning its signature recycled nylon bags as complementary to the iconic leather handbags and wallets of luxury brands, the founders of Berlin’s VeeCollective think so.
The VeeCollective tote clocks in at just under $300, but thanks to celebrity fans like Gwyneth Paltrow and Olivia Wilde, it’s stocked at retailers like Selfridges and Galeries Lafayette alongside brands such as Louis Vuitton and Prada. The idea is that the VeeCollective bag won’t replace your leather purchase, but rather live alongside it. A different type of status symbol, but a status symbol nonetheless, according to married co-founders Lili Radu and Patrick Löwe.
Radu first founded an eponymous line of leather handbags 12 years ago, but identifying a white space for lightweight, functional bags opened an opportunity for the couple to launch a new label. Save for Prada’s Re-Nylon collection, the majority of offerings in this category didn’t feel like fashion, Löwe says. “We’ve designed it in a way that [makes sure] our customer feels like she’s not carrying a functional bag, but something that’s cool and fashionable.”
Radu references Longchamp’s Le Pliage, which she calls out as a long-time best seller. Gen Z rediscovered the bag in 2023, raking up posts of the #longchamplepliage hashtag. Radu sees this as a sign that younger customers are ready for the next generation of nylon bags. VeeCollective’s version is equipped with extra pockets, including a laptop sleeve, plus a laundry bag and detachable shoulder strap. Influencer partnerships and joint work with wellness personalities like Tracy Anderson have helped raise awareness.
“VeeCollective speaks to the modern woman; she is successful, consistently on the move, habitually multi-tasking,” says Kelly Sierra, who is the senior director of sales and business development at brand development platform Tomorrow London, which works with VeeCollective. To remain in step with the fashion calendar, VeeCollective releases its drops as “seasons”. But this doesn’t mean the brand will bend to fashion’s quick trend cycle, the founders say. Instead, it’s a matter of changed colourways, perhaps a new style.
In 2023, self-funded VeeCollective’s revenues grew 43 per cent year-on-year to $7.5 million, with a repurchase rate of 40 per cent. This year, it’s doubling down, with a particular focus on what the pair expect will be their largest market: the US.
To do so, VeeCollective is pushing its wholesale strategy, after wholesale outpaced online sales for the first time last year, doubling from 2022 to 2023. Once VeeCollective has established its wholesale presence in the US, the brand will then look to build out its DTC offering — a trajectory informed by its European expansion to date.
Alongside its US growth goals, VeeCollective is on its way to becoming B-Corp certified by the end of the quarter. Then, the brand aims to be carbon neutral by the end of 2024. “We want our consumers to know we’re doing our very best to minimise negative output — which we obviously have,” Löwe says. “We’re producing.” Radu adds that the bag is a “many trick pony”: “You can use it for travel, for the gym — you don’t need five different bags. So you can reduce the amount you need to purchase.” The goal is, after all, to be the go-to everyday bag in the States.
A hard sell
Positioning has been key to VeeCollective’s success, Radu says. The founders have achieved this via their 130 stockists and, in turn, in-store placement.
“We sit next to the big brand leather handbags on the floors of department stores,” Radu says. “People like that.” By placing the bags next to coveted luxury designer handbags in a shopping context, consumers are primed to think of VeeCollective as the everyday tote to carry alongside these iconic offerings, the pair say.
Typically, brands don’t have control over where their products are placed in stores. Radu and Löwe negotiated this with what they call a simple and straightforward message: “VeeCollective is what your customer wants, is looking for and currently doesn’t find,” Löwe says. “We convinced them that we are an on-top sell for the sales floor. [A] lower price point compared to luxury, but [with a] higher sales frequency generating at least equal if not better sales per square foot.”
The pair also assured stores that the brand’s global wholesale distribution positioning would be in line with luxury offerings, bolstered by its distribution partnership with Tomorrow London. “It was absolutely not easy,” Radu says. VeeCollective’s promise of a fashionable-but-practical nylon bag in the $160 to $335 range isn’t a typical portfolio product for its target sellers. “Big retailers don’t know how to position us,” Radu says.
Europe was the harder sell. There, classic leather handbags take up an even higher percentage of floor space than in the US, Radu says. The pair had to convince stores that demand would be high enough for the sub-$300 bags to sit alongside models that sell for $1,000 upwards. By gifting heavily, Radu was able to make the case for the bags’ popularity: Paltrow, Rita Ora and Olivia Palermo are among the stars that have been spotted carrying the totes.
American buyers are more receptive, the founders say. “US buyers were more aware of the product because it’s a bigger category there,” Radu says. “Also, customers are more used to buying nylon bags,” Löwe flags. “So it’s a much easier sell.” For example, Cos’s quilted nylon offering, which initially gained traction in 2021, and went viral in 2023, lauded as a more affordable It-bag. (It retails for $45 to $135 for the larger, most popular version.)
VeeCollective’s luxury wellness partners also helped boost US credibility. Next week, it’s launching a collaboration with Paltrow’s Goop: a VeeCollective bag in Goop’s signature soft pink.
It’s worth the varying degrees of struggle, the pair agree, as the wholesale route is essential for boosting brand awareness. Wholesale begets visibility and credibility, Löwe says. “In 2017, when we founded, everyone was talking about only direct-to-consumer,” he says. “But we said, we need the credibility. And we need the volume out there, to get more feedback.”
VeeCollective launched with its first US stockist, Neiman Marcus, in November 2023. It’s hitting Saks in February 2024, and Nordstrom will follow after that. That’s three department store lock-ins in one season.
“This is the moment of truth,” Löwe says. “If those bags don’t sell off the shelf, that’s bye-bye scalability in the US.”
But the pair is confident in its US potential, not least because the market is primed to embrace a bag with this use case, and at this price point. VeeCollective’s New York showroom also plays a key role, as a way to introduce the brand to — and connect with — new customers. Here, VeeCollective also offers monogramming services.
In addition to the US, VeeCollective has its sights set on Asia. Through its current distribution network, the brand is sold in China and Japan. But before going full throttle there, VeeCollective remains focused on the States. “The goal is to really conquer the American market,” Radu says.
Key takeaway: Berlin-based VeeCollective is fashioning a new king of It-bag, positioning its nylon offerings as an everyday luxury counterpart to your standard, small designer handbag. Having partnered with Tomorrow London and built out its European distribution with a luxury positioning, the brand is embarking on its US growth strategy. To do so, it’s banking on a high-end wholesale presence, luxury wellness and influencer partnerships as well as a sustainability-focused foundation.
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