Mulberry Bayswater Creator Launches His Own Bag Line, Mallet & Co.

When we talk about a brand’s handbags, we usually talk about how a creative director influences their creation, but that’s not nearly the full story. Brands that make products in multiple categories have layers upon layers of creative management, and although a creative director guides the people below him, it’s often an accessories or leather goods director and the people he or she oversees that are principally responsible for a design house’s big handbag hits and misses.

Enter Nicholas Knightly. According to Women Wear Daily, he’s in his twelfth year as Louis Vuitton‘s director of leather goods, and before that, he was the creator of Mulberry’s persistently popular Bayswater Bag. Knightly is still in his post at Vuitton, but that hasn’t stopped him from launching a line of his very own: Mallet & Co., which debuted its first handbags late last week exclusively at Net-a-Porter.

If you were a big fan of Bayswater-era Mulberry, you’ll definitely want to watch Mallet & Co. as it grows. The bags are the type of classic-casual staples that the brand became known for during the time, and the circa-$1,500 price tag of Mallet & Co.’s current bags will remind Mulberry lovers of the halcyon days before its bags got very expensive. Mallet & Co.’s offerings are limited for now, but I’m interested to see how the brand expands in Knightly’s capable hands.

Check out the brand’s bags below or browse directly via Net-a-Porter.