Meet Richard Lambertson and John Truex
PB: Who’s the typical customer?
John: That is constantly changing. With every collection we ask ourselves that question – who do we design for? I think today, she’s a three-generation woman, which has always been the core of our brand. She is a woman that is getting out of college, she wants a smart-looking bag, she wants to feel chic, she wants to feel recognizable, but not something that is too much. It’s her mother, who can afford higher luxury products, and then it’s even perhaps her grandmother. Someone who is lunching, wants a little chic, a little alligator clutch. Her daughter asks her to borrow it, she hands it down. It becomes a circle of exchange.
Richard: We have Erin Lauder as a customer, we have Evelyn Lauder as a customer. Estee Lauder was a customer. You see people out in the country with the horse groups carrying our bags. It goes everywhere, it bridges a lot.
John: It is hard to design into that, but we know that she is out there. That is why our collection is not about THE bag, or THE silhouette, or THE color. We have a lot of women who live all around the world, they travel, and our bags have to address all these various needs and desires. I truly believe that our woman is an independent woman. She doesn’t need a logo to express her well. She doesn’t need a logo to express her thoughts inside. She needs to be comfortable.
Richard: We do have a lot of celebrities that shop with us actually.
PB: Any in particular that you are fond of?
John: Mary J. Blige, love her! She carries our clutches and loves them. Debra Messing is a big fan and Julianne Moore as well. We don’t go out seeking these celebrities, we were never comfortable with that.
Richard: J.Lo shops here…
John: More recently, Diane Lane, Reese Witherspoon, Faith Hill.
Richard: Reese actually asked us to design a bag for her! She asked for a smaller version of the bag we carry, that is all she carries at night.
John: Every one of these women and girls are very different. Again, you don’t chase it! These are celebrities that have gone out and purchased the bags, or their stylist has come. You can look and see this yellow Dior Babe on Mary Kate and many others, they must send them out to many! We don’t design a bag, multiply it and send it to every publicity house out there to reach your celebs. They are our clients, we love when they call us and say “oh I saw this clutch on so-and-so”. Then we build relationships, they come up here [to the showroom].
PB: That ties into what you mentioned about the organic growth…
John: It has to happen naturally or else it’s not going to work. I really feel that in business, you have to fold in the ingredients and then mix it, give it time for development and flavor. It is truly the analogy of baking a cake but I do think that you cannot force it, you have to go one-day-at-a-time. Like our stores, they did go 1-2-3 but it just happened. We did not plan for it to happen in 9 months - 3 stores. We found the perfect spot, gotta sign it, gotta move on it, gotta do it.
PB: Your favorite bag?
John: I do switch my bags – ask Richard – pretty much to go with my outfit. I am probably the only guy in the world doing that!
Richard: He matches his wallet to his belt.
John: It is a sickness, but I love doing that.
Richard: He changes his wallet when he goes out at night.
John: I do, I have a small silver wallet for evening events.
Richard: Then there’s dinner bags with dinner wallets.
John: It totally works!
PB: That croc leather is so soft…
John: Isn’t it? It’s a garment tannage. Our alligator comes in a shine, a high gloss, which is a little bit more of a rigid finish, then we do mattes, which is super soft, but matte. Not everyone understands matte, it gets shiny as you carry it though, so we created this semi-glaze. You can turn the bag inside-out without cracking the finish! It is also used for making jackets – if it can be used for jackets, let’s make a handbag out of it.
