Things We Love

Belen Echandia launches diffusion line

August 3, 2012 By Jackie Cawthra Leave a Comment

…Big news this week – we are launching a new line!

I’m so excited. Next Wednesday 8th August 2012 we will launch our new diffusion line, B.E. for Belen Echandia. We are all so, so, so excited! Everyone keeps asking me about it and the inspiration behind it – and what the difference is between the diffusion line and our main line and well, I have received a lot of questions so I thought I’d write a quick blog post to share a bit more information.

I have always wanted to design a diffusion line. I know that in recent years a sort of perfectionism has taken over and we have (among other things) added super polished zippers inside and out, started using some amazing, pretty expensive leathers and included details and add-ons that other brands would edit, edit, edit out (according to a friend who designs for a well-known upmarket brand, virtually all of our main line bags would be considered too expensive to produce). I know that this has resulted in a fantastic product, but also one that is a bit more expensive than our initial collections and one that is out of the reach of some of our original customers. I also know that there is demand from even our regular customers for a streamlined bag or two.

Our new line is a pared-down Belen Echandia aesthetic: a streamlined but lovely collection of bags in some fantastic colours. Prices of the initial pieces range from £30 to £385. This more accessible collection is actually a collaboration between Belen Echandia and the Italian artisans who hand-make each and every Belen Echandia bag. Our artisans are the very soul of the brand and this endeavour further strengthens our support for them.

You may have already got the idea that we feel really strongly about using European, family-run artisans who create the most wonderful, beautiful quality bags. The economic climate has caused many accessories’ brands to relocate their production facilities to China in an attempt to slow the squeeze on margins caused by the mass of discounting of the last few years. This has put many European craftsmen out of business. We are not willing to compromise on the incomparable quality of our workmanship nor to walk away from the loyal, talented artisans that have brought the brand this far. Our ethos is to connect you with local artisans and our new diffusion line, B.E. by Belen Echandia, helps to protect our atelier so that future handbag lovers can experience the quality of a hand-made piece.

The first bags in the new collection include two chic, wearable totes – one vertical and the other horizontal, a smart satchel and a soft hobo with detailed handle in the most fabulous of this season’s colours – an autumnal vermillion, a gorgeous petrol blue, a fiery red and a stunning light gold. These gorgeous colours are hand-crafted into individual creations by our family-run Italian atelier in leathers such as saffiano textured calf and soft pebbled cowhide.

The main differences between our main line and this one are that this line is streamlined and easier to produce – there are very few time-consuming and expensive details – and that we have used different zippers and linings. Some of the leathers will be the same – although most will be different – but we have not compromised on the quality of our leather. We hope you will agree that the result is a lovely collection of bags in some stunning colours at a more affordable price point.

Please note that our usual customization options are not available on this line.

If you can’t possibly wait until the bags hit the store for pre-order on Wednesday 8th August 2012, get in touch with Janelle Walters, our Personal Stylist, on janelle@belenechandia.com for more information.
To see all our lovely bags, click here.

Filed Under: BE by Belen Echandia, Behind the scenes, Belen Echandia, Business of Fashion, Fashion, Handbags, Social Responsibility, Things We Love

Bonobos + Nordström = the fashion innovation of the future

May 7, 2012 By Belen echandia 1 Comment

Andy Dunn – Picture Source New York Times

Andy Dunn was involved with the founding of Bonobos five years ago. One of his main aims was to shake-up the retail industry with a men’s wear brand only sold online. But a new innovation is emerging in the land of luxury fashion, with brands like Bonobos forming strategic partnerships with traditional brick-and-mortar retailers like Nordstrom, the 111-year-old department store.

Both parties describe the deal as symbiotic. Nordström wants access to Bonobos’ online marketing expertise and Bonobos will get $16.4 million of Nordströms cash and more than 100 stores to sell its clothes.

“We’ve been thinking about where growth is going to come from across all retail over the next 10 years,” said Jamie F. Nordstrom, the head of Nordstrom.com and the great-grandson of the company’s founder to the New York Times. “And certainly square-footage growth is not where that growth is coming from.”

As more and more consumers shop online, brick-and-mortar retailers and fledgling e-commerce sites realize that they can form strategic partnerships. The pace and landscape of retail is changing and what may surprise many is that traditional retailers, with all the resources in the world, just haven’t managed to keep pace with the innovative mentality of internet start-ups. At the other end of the spectrum, Internet companies are starting to see the benefits of teaming up with well-established marketing partners with substantial resources and distribution networks.

Nordstrom has been among the most successful retailers online. Last February, it paid $180 million for Hautelook, the first of takeover of a sales site by a traditional retailer. The retailer is also changing its main website, introducing same-day shipping and placing 6,000 mobile hand-held devices in its stores to enhance the customer’s shopping experience.

The company will invest $140 million on e-commerce this year, a 40 percent increase from 2011. Over the next five years, it intends to devote almost $1 billion, or roughly 30 percent of its capital expenditures, on boosting e-commerce growth.

Nordstromwas initially interested in a typical distribution deal with Bonobos, a brand bought by well-to-do professionals who like crisp plaid shirts and red chambray pants. But the retailer found a greater interest after examining Bonobos’s operations and how it engaged with its online audience. Mr. Nordstrom was particularly impressed with Bonobos’s mail-outs which included customized elements and links to quirky You Tube videos, which appealed to Bonobos’s male clientele.

Nordstrom’s new online strategy has already reaped rewards for the company. In the last year, the company has improved the personalization and targeted customer emails, mirroring efforts by HauteLook. This has increased engagement “pretty significantly,” according to Mr. Nordstrom. The executives at HauteLook, along with the team at Bonobos, will also help the company design new applications for mobile devices and Nordstrom.com. The new relationship could be equally advantageous to Bonobos, which is dealing with rising competition online.

In its early years, the business grew fast, supported by word-of-mouth marketing. But as Bonobos grew it began to spend more money on advertisements to attract new customers. By 2011, the company was devoting about 20 percent of its revenue to marketing, about double the previous year. Finding new clients became more and more difficult.

Bonobos’ hope is that teaming up with Nordström will help Bonobos gain new clients, particularly those who don’t usually shop online. Although Nordstrom may cannibalize some of Bonobos’s existing sales, Mr. Dunn, the company’s chief executive, said any loss in direct sales would be offset by the marketing benefits.

“It was foolish to contain this brand in one channel,” he said. “For so long we were operating like we were so different from store-driven retailers, but we are more similar.”

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To read reviews of our bags and more about the background behind our brand as well as fashion and more, visit our Online Magazine.

For more of my thoughts and opinions on a variety of subjects, please subscribe to my updates – Jackie Cawthra.

Filed Under: Belen Echandia, Business of Fashion, Fashion, Things We Love

Style Chat Fridays

February 13, 2012 By Belen echandia Leave a Comment

Belen Echandia is introducing a new concept: Style Chat Fridays. We love chatting about the latest trends and comparing notes in the office and we also get lots of questions about the latest fashion trends, how to wear particular styles of bag and how to incorporate different looks. So we decided to make a Style Chat part of our regular Facebook line-up.

Each week we will be discussing a different style topic – something that has caught our eye or a question raised by one of our customers. We’ll be asking questions as well as answering them, showcasing different looks and ideas and also showing how bags can be incorporated into different trends.

Please send your questions to janelle (@) belenechandia.com. The more the merrier! And please join us every Friday on Facebook – the chatter will be going on throughout the day.

Have a great week!

The BE Team XOXOX

Filed Under: Belen Echandia, Fashion, Style, Things We Love

SS12 Preview: Belen Echandia’s spring collection – The Paris bag

December 20, 2011 By Belen echandia 6 Comments

The final brand new bag from Belen Echandia’s spring collection (see the full line sheet here) is the Paris Tote. The Paris is a sturdy yet comfortable lightweight shoulder bag with a top zipper and messenger strap. It looks and feels wonderful on the shoulder, the elbow and when worn as a cross body bag. We’ve had a few questions about whether this bag is extra heavy because of the decorative buckles on the sides – the answer is no.

The weight of this bag is just 950 grams, which is similar to or lighter than a lot of our bags. This bag has very little hardware and what it does have is lightweight, making it a very comfortable bag to wear. Here is a close-up shot of the Vermillion leather and the details on the Paris.

Here is an inside shot. *Please note* this is the first sample we produced, before we decided to add a top zipper. All Paris Totes produced after this one have a top zipper as well as the magnets, for added security. The buckles on the sides are merely decorative and not used to close the bag in any way.

We’ve called this bag a tote for want of a better word, but it is not really a tote in the “jute tote” sense, rather it’s a sturdy shoulder bag which has slightly more structure than other BE bags, whilst remaining soft against the body.

Filed Under: Belen Echandia, Fashion, Handbags, Things We Love

Animal prints and pony skin – AW11

August 15, 2011 By Belen echandia 1 Comment

Animal prints and fur are hot news again for the AW11 season, but this time we’re seeing subtler prints like milky-white snow leopard alongside their flashier cousins. We’ve used pony skin for the Belen Echandia handbag collection before, but this is the first time we’ve ever incorporated leopard and zebra into our larger handbag range. Only a small number of pieces are available and we’re very excited with the results.

It has taken me a while to get here. I have never been keen on animal prints. But a couple of months ago, I was at a museum with my son when I spotted a woman wearing a velvet leopard-print crossbody bag which was a very similar shape to our Covet Me Mini.

The bag was quite simple, so I don’t know if it was the otherwise chic Scandinavian style that did it, or the fact that I could suddenly visualise a BE leopard print Covet Me Mini, but this woman rocked her animal print bag. Animal prints suddenly seemed very wearable.

And now for a few pieces from the up coming animal print collection:

1. Clutch Me in leopard with black super soft matte trim

2. Milan Satchel in snow leopard with black super soft matte trim

3. Covet Me Mini in snow leopard with black super soft matte trim

Filed Under: Belen Echandia, Fashion, Handbags, Style, Things We Love Tagged With: 2011 Handbags, Autumn, AW11 Trends

Autumn Winter 2011 handbag and leather trends in pictures

August 12, 2011 By Belen echandia 1 Comment

Row 1, left to right:

1. The clutch – The Duchess of Cambridge, AKA Katherine Middleton, made the clutch the handbag of the moment. From weddings, to evenings out with the girls, to dinners and formal events, as well as just a date at the movies, we all need a clutch. Stuffing things in pockets is so last season.

2. The mini crossbody – If you think this bag looks too small, think again. If you like any of the following, you need a mini cross body bag: Travelling (this style is perfect for looking chic and keeping cool whilst strolling through markets/cities/tourist attractions, running through airports when you need to quickly access passports and tickets), strolling around your own city, going to concerts or cycling (are you seriously going to carry a shoulder bag?), doing anything with small children (hands-free? It’s essential). My stepfather once asked me why I had brought my “suitcase” to dinner – don’t make the same mistake.

3. Cuffs - What more to say? Leather cuffs are now. They are hot. I usually have trouble wearing them because my wrists are so small, but these are lovely and so comfortable.

Row 2, left to right:

4. Hand-carry/elbow-carry – If you like to hand-carry your bags you’re in luck this coming season. Luckily for those who don’t, our L.A. Tote has an adjustable handle that can be worn either way.

5. Red – Some people are scared of red. They think it is aggressive or difficult to wear. I think red is amazing. It can provide a drop of glamour in an otherwise monochrome colour palette in the shape of red nails, red shoes or a red bag. There is a shade of red to suit everyone, from cardinal to vermillion and back to scarlet. Our red bags with chains are made from chevre (goatskin) and they are amazing. You will feel like a million dollars.

6. Prints/black and white/pony skin – Three trends in one, would you expect anything less? Our snow leopard pony skin bags are of the moment but don’t worry about them being trendy, have you noticed that animal print are “in” roughly every 2-3 years, maybe even more often? This is a trend that never really goes out of fashion. If you’ve been hesitating like me, don’t hesitate any longer. Buy now!

Row 3, left to right:

7. Coin purses - Little coin purses are so cute and so useful: we all need them. They are great for loose change, for tickets, for receipts, for taking as a mini mini clutch bag on an evening out. An essential item in a woman’s wardrobe. I’m going for the anthracite or the zebra pony skin.

8. Texture – Textured leather is amazing, particularly if it’s soft and smooshy. I love the uber luxurious feel of Belen Echandia’s textured chevre leather (goatskin).

9. Colour – Ah, wearable colour… where have you been all my life? In the deep dark trenches of Scandinavian winter (my husband is Swedish) I survive on colour therapy. But thankfully, this season brings a lot of wearable colours and particularly colourful accessories, so I can wear my dark jeans and boots with this darling little colourful crossbody.

I hope you enjoyed my breakdown of upcoming handbag and leather trends. If you did and/or you have any comments, please drop me a line!

Filed Under: Belen Echandia, Fashion, Handbags, Things We Love

Brightly coloured chevres

August 9, 2011 By Jackie Cawthra 1 Comment

Ever since I wrote that post (this one) we’ve been inundated with emails asking us about available colours of chevre. So we’ve started taking pictures of the chevre colours that are available now. Today, we’re posting the bright colours. If you’re looking for a brightly coloured goatskin bag, here’s a run down of what we have (please not that these colours are fully-stocked and available now, but leathers frequently go out of stock so if there is a particular leather that you know you want, the best thing is to put down a deposit on it):

PARIS

We’re calling this colour chart “Paris”. The colours look (on my screen at least) exactly as they do on the colour chart. This is an extremely soft, beautifully uniform leather. It does not show marks easily. The colours are saturated and deep.

DIXAN

This is a washed chevre, meaning that it is a little more matte and has a little more texture – and the colours are a bit less saturated than Paris and Guanto. These colours are my favourites, just because I like that “washed” look. Here is a close-up of the texture of that leather in red, with all our linings:

Here are the bright colours from the Dixan colour chart:

GUANTO

This is a glove-like leather, the most classic of the three and as saturated and uniform as Paris, just with a little more gloss. This colour chart is a little harder to shoot, but we’ve had a go!