Not long ago, Mulberry publicly announced its intentions to alter its price structure and handbag offerings in order to try to stanch its recent sales slide, and now we’re seeing the opening salvo of those changes. The Mulberry Tessie Bags, which start at $860, are the brand’s new beginning.
There are a couple of notable things about these four new bags, which are mid-season entrants that are likely meant to get the ball rolling more than to make a big splash with consumers. (The splashy bags, surely, will come later.) First, they lack the big Mulberry turnlock that has graced almost all Mulberry bags released in the last several years. Instead, they have a small gold square with an embossed Mulberry tree.
Second, the bags are discreet. The collection consists of a tote ($990), a hobo ($1,190) and a long-strapped shoulder bag in two sizes ($860 – $990), and the most daring color available is a sedate burgundy. These bags are workhorses, and the kind of thing that every woman needs to have in her closet. They form not only a good foundation for a wardrobe, but also for a brand’s accessories collection – there’s plenty of room to expand creatively from here, but these are the types of bags that earned the brand its loyal following in the first place.
Mulberry is currently functioning both without a permanent CEO and a permanent creative director, so it’s possible that the addition of one or more executives in the near future could drastically alter the brand’s current trajectory. Until there’s more stable leadership, though, this is a back-to-basics olive branch that Mulberry fans will likely be glad to see, even if they hold off on purchasing for the moment.
Or maybe they won’t hold off – at least one of the bags is already sold out. Shop the entire line here.