This past week, I read a great online article by James Roumeliotis; a lifestyle marketer titled “Luxury versus Premium versus Fashion: Clarifying the Disparity” in which he discusses how the terms Luxury, Premium and Fashion, can be convoluted and confusing depending on who is defining for what consumer group. And, that brands targeting the affluent must have clarity as to their “lane” with these specific segments. As we continue to clarify our brand, we realize that we offer a Premium product. As Roumeliotis states in his article ” Premium, stands for performance, value added, state-of-the-art, craftsmanship, and timeless design.” What a beautiful and appropriate way to describe Beau Satchelle. Yet, it’s important to add that our long term strategy is to grow our current ‘new brand’ into a luxury lifestyle brand. The terms mentioned above have been adopted in so many ways that you do wonder if mass marketers have weakened the exclusivity of those words. For instance, take the word “bespoke”. Is it losing its power because of it’s overuse in a variety of industries? Webster dictionary defines the term bespoke as dealing in or producing custom-made articles. According to wiseGeek an online blogger, it is a British word that originated among tailors of London’s Seville Row where cloth for custom-made suits was said to be spoken for, or reserved for an exclusive client. Interestingly, Haute Couture is the female version fashion term of the word bespoke which is most connected with men’s tailoring. When marketing to a demographic that appreciates purchasing unattainable products or services, we must strive for offering perfection within our wheelhouse. Being introduced into the affluent market has been an revealing journey for Beau Satchelle as we gain more knowledge, create memorable experiences and build long term relationships with our clients. Our leather creations will […]
“When you’re a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you’re not going to use a piece of plywood on the back, even though it faces the wall and nobody will every see it. You’ll know its there, so you’re going to use a beautiful piece of wood on the back. For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through.” – Steve Jobs As Beau Satchelle launch nears, we wanted to pay homage to the leather creators and innovators of our past. The evolution of luxury handbags have a rich and storied history in Europe; many trends and designs grew out of the fashion styles of the French and English, although America designers have put their unique influence on this beautiful accessory. So let’s take a look at the evolution of the handbag….. In Ancient Times, (evidenced in both Nubian and European civilizations), pouches were used by both men and women as a fundamental part of our development as humans to collect food and to transport items. The earliest were made from animal skin, cotton or woven plant fibers. During the Middle Ages, the purse, was made more so with round pieces of leather and a drawstring, had another utilitarian purpose (storing coinage) for men long before women adopted them as a fashion accessory and the need to carry personal items. Many of the early designs for women had to do with the style of the dress (including wide skirts, material in the back of the skirt, slimmer skirts) as to whether these early bags were worn underneath or outside the skirt. In the New World, European pilgrims discovered Native Americans used leather pouches for medicine bags and other pouches of all sizes to preserve and transport items from food […]
This blog post originated and was first published on our former company Bedrock Beauty, LLC website during the Paris, France incident in 2015. Given the events of yesterday, we pray for those who encountered such horrific acts of violence and join hands across the globe for a more peaceful and harmonious future. Christians all over the world are preparing for Easter; which is one of their biggest religious holiday of the year. Easter or Resurrection Sunday which commemorates the ascension of Jesus Christ into Heaven, is a festive, celebratory day for Christian believers. Easter represents hope. The reverse of hope was sadly brought to our attention again with the horrific acts of violence that occurred yesterday in Brussels, Belgium, the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Another stark reminder of the type of world we live in today… the unfortunate “new normal”. During our re-branding, Beau Satchelle has continued to build friendships and has developed working partnerships with a number of European fashion designers, makers, bloggers and vendors. We are heartbroken that our international neighbors are experiencing such tragedy and fear. Its unimaginable to go about business as usual and live with some semblance of normalcy when uncertainty surrounds your community. Time, once again, appeared to stand still for world citizens as video and pictures were communicated through traditional media and social media. What is encouraging is through all of this tragedy, to witness stories of human beings pulling together to help the injured. The words “my brother’s keeper” plays out repeatedly and that during this Holy Week, I am hopeful that all peoples of various religions and non religions will once again stand up in the face of fear. These events once again shows our solidarity as humans and how we ultimately have to share this one […]
2019 will be here before you know it. Perhaps we’re getting ahead of ourselves, since we’re in the middle of preparing for our Spring 2016 launch. But what better way to build upon our current excitement than to not only focus on the present yet look toward the future and share our short term goals. For Beau Satchelle, when creating our business plan we embraced the author, Dr. Steven Covey’s Habit #2 “Begin With The End in Mind”. By clarifying in our minds as to how our company will look in a few years. This accomplished several things for Beau Satchelle: 1. Created a platform to think bigger as to our place in the global world of luxury lifestyle 2. It provides us the whole map to the road, the guidelines and the milestones to fulfill our three year vision 3. We can determine what our social impact will be on this planet Three years was a long enough period to measure our progress by breaking goals into smaller chunks of time. This process started by defining who we are today. Beau Satchelle’s vision is Bespoke Luxury for the Discerning individual. Beau Satchelle’s mission statement: We provides fine bespoke leather handbags, cases, luggage, accessories and connoisseur specialties to those who crave individuality and one of a kind pieces. Our Head Luxury Designer and Leather Artisan T. Michael carefully crafts these works of art and is committed to reviving the time honored tradition of hand-stitched luxury leather goods. Made exclusively from luxurious and exotic skins, premium hides and hardware, he meticulously builds his distinctive products to meet his discerning and sophisticated client’s needs. Beau Satchelle…. “Beautiful Handbags”, makes a statement and stands the test of time… This vision and mission statements allowed us to do the planning necessary to track our […]
After a long winter (in some locations, longer and colder than others), we’re all looking forward to the magic of spring. Especially here in Michigan, where Beau Satchelle’s headquarters is located, we’ve faced a characteristically cold winter compared to some of our neighbors down south. We really look forward to getting some warmer temperatures soon as the first day of spring comes near. There’s something about the spring. It’s exciting to watch the snow melt, the first green shoots poke through the brown dirt, and of course, the beautiful colorful flowers we plant in the fall sprout through the brown earth. We put away our shovels and snow blowers and our winter wear, and decide to throw open the shutters to let the sun shine in. We think about organizing the clutter to make room for the new things that spring brings, and of course, our attention turns to our closet and our wardrobe. Spring means that it’s time to evaluate our wardrobes. Anything heavy and dark gets put away for a few seasons’ rest with our gratitude, and we cycle our lighter fabrics, pretty prints, and brighter colors. Of course, we evaluate what we need and go shopping, which is the fun part. How to pack away your winter leather Use a soft cloth to wipe down your quality leather goods before filling the bag with absorbent paper to help the bag keep its shape. Store the bag in a cloth, or breathable bag before putting it in a place that it can breathe. Do not store your quality leather in plastic containers or plastic bags. Want to keep it simple? We do, too! You will note that some things are great year round. This is especially if you have fewer accessories, or are a minimalist and want to […]
You consider yourself to be fairly stylish and fashionable, and you have a love of luxury goods. We’re with you. There’s nothing like quality handcrafted goods in a world of mass production. Luxury goods are made to last with premium materials and quality craftsmanship, and they make you feel good to use them. Here’s our guide to investing in the best, most sophisticated goods that money can buy. 1. Consider where the product is made Let’s face it – luxury items are usually not mass produced in China or India. There are exceptions to every rule, of course, but they are usually made by smaller companies in areas of Europe, or North America. The reason for this is because luxury can’t be churned out. Luxury items are carefully made, with individuals in mind. Our luxury bespoke products are made in the U.S.A., for example, by people that you and I might know. 2. You should consider who is making your luxury goods You want to feel good when using your luxury goods, not guilty. You don’t want to be feeling like people weren’t paid a fair wage to create your product. After all, you don’t want your pleasure to be someone else’s misery. Do a little research, and make sure that people are paid a fair living wage to make your items. 3. Consider the materials used Luxury buyers should consider what materials are used to make the item. If you are purchasing a handbag, where is the leather sourced? Make sure it’s a reputable source, and that they are using premium materials. 4. Support small local shops and boutiques You may want to consider supporting smaller local shops and boutiques instead of shopping malls. When you buy at shopping malls and big chains, you are putting money into the […]
Take a journey with me and think about your last visit to your favorite luxury leather handbag shop. Like a five star meal where many of your senses are heightened by the texture, smell and sight that only leather can bring about. Touching leather is a sensual experience like no other. Caressing your fingers across leather allows you to feel both the perfections and imperfections of the skin, the cut edges that have been smoothed and tanned to feel baby soft, the texture of the hide that has gone through various processes to prepare for the hands of the artisan. The astonishing smells of leather that trigger powerful memories and bonding us to the earthy, natural smells of Mother Earth; leather consumers LOVE the smell of leather. And finally, the look of leather, just like snowflakes; every hide has its own beautiful distinct shape, pattern, and how it takes dyes. When we make decisions based on the design elements and colors of our products, our commitment to working with methods that are environmentally friendly is to use more manufactures that have sustainable processes. One area that we have made this commitment has to do with the tanning and dying processes of our leathers. We focus on two methods: purchasing from tanneries and wholesalers that produce vegetable tanned leather; or when doing the dying ourselves, using water based stains and dyes (using one solid color or mixing dyes to obtain a unique look such as our pearl-toned handbags). Vegetable tanning is an old world process that uses tannin that comes naturally in the bark, branches, leaves and even the fruit of many plants. The raw hides are soaked in large pits for several weeks in increasing concentrations of tannin until the hide becomes leather. Depending on the goal of the tannery, […]
