Dear reader, when was the last time you had a good night’s sleep?
For some, the answer may be a resounding “only last night, of course!” For others, well, not so much. Hey, some of you might be catching those much-needed Z’s as we speak. Or perhaps you’ve come across this diatribe of yours truly on your nightly scroll – in which case, this is your signal to put your phone down and finally hit the sack… once you’ve finished the piece, that is!
Dior, however, would like to redefine your downtime with its very own branded wellness retreat, replete with a “nutritionist and functional medicine expert on hand for individual consultations for your relationship with food, mindfulness, and inner well-being,” as you drift off into the land of the Nod.
Leading hoteliers around the world, on the other hand, from Hilton Hotels, to the Four Seasons and Six Senses, have begun to unveil services centered around the art and science of – you guessed it – sleep; where rooms are fitted with guided meditation and mindfulness apps, cooling linens, air purifiers, and Normatec compression boots to jumpstart your circadian rhythm.
In fact, at a time when an increasingly alarming number of adults are reporting sleep deprivation, it’s wellness that’s become the biggest flex. The young, hot, and rich look today – in the words of Liz Goldwyn – is “very California, like, ‘I’m really casual, I just came from my pilates class,’ with subtle gold jewelry and cashmere sweatpants and everything is $3,000.”
It’s only natural, therefore, that a $3,000 handbag is the next frontier of wellness.
From Leggings to Luxury
Enter – Alo Yoga. Or as it would like to be known, just Alo.
If the name doesn’t ring a bell for you, you’ve almost certainly seen its leggings out and about. The once taboo-fied technical wear confined within the walls of the gym has now become a Gen-Z go-to, a Pilates girl status symbol, and a Beverly Hills brunch uniform paired hand-in-hand with a minimal baseball cap and green smoothie (Erewhon or nothing!), not to mention the apocryphal Chanel or Hermès arm candy to round it up.
And now, it has announced its own call to arms (see what I did there?) – in the form of a luxury handbag lineup that rivals its rarefied European peers.
Of course, Alo – with a promise to take “the consciousness from practice on the mat and into the practice of life” – was never just about activewear. Since its founding in 2007, it has branched into supplements, fitness classes, and crystal necklaces “to help manifest grounding and balance.”
In keeping with the crystals theme, its latest collection of carryalls—comprising four core silhouettes: the Voyage Duffle, Tranquility Tote, Odyssey Bowler, and Balance Bucket, all available in full and mini sizes and fashioned out of responsibly sourced Italian leather and suede—sport an amulet-like Alo Intention Crystal (sold separately) that functions both as an accessory (see: charm) and a talisman.
With prices ranging from $1,200 to $3,600, bag-drops in 23 select stores (CEO Danny Harris dubs them “sanctuaries”), and a campaign lensed by Steven Meisel where the three Spandex-swathed sylphs – Amelia Gray, Candice Swanepoel, and Daiane Sodré – are seen with the purses, Alo is here to give the heritage houses a run for their money.
And Harris is optimistic: “If they were buying Chanel, now they’ll buy Alo. Not everyone, of course. But some. And that’s enough for us.”
Bewitched, Bejeweled, and Bewildered
In December 2020, Swiss jeweler and watchmaker Chopard unveiled its new boutique at Harrods in London. Except, trinkets and timepieces were nowhere to be found in this boutique, which was instead laden with accessories like the brand’s classic Happy bags and a new boxy satchel devised in collaboration with Chloë Sevigny.
Cartier of France introduced its first Must de Cartier bag back in 1973, and the signature burgundy leather carryall continues to be a bestseller today. As per Pierre Rainero, the house’s Director of Image, Style and Heritage, the label began making bags at the beginning of the 20th century and “never stopped. What changed over time is the focus.”
Roman jewel-maker Bvlgari, similarly, translated its Serpenti motif onto SLGs for the first time in 2008 and, as of 2011, on handbags; each piece was adorned with the bejeweled serpentine clasp that defined almost a century of craftsmanship for the heritage brand.
“In the past month alone,” writes the Business of Fashion, “ready-to-wear label Nili Lotan; influencer-founded accessories company Aureum Collective; Los Angeles-based designers Jamie Haller and Janessa Leone, and Guizio, which is best known for its sequined micro miniskirts, have all announced new bag lines.” Old Navy, too, has its own bag lineup – all under $50, while Uniqlo’s viral nylon $20 Banana Bag went on to become the cheapest product to ever be featured on the Lyst Index.
Even Ferrari has been staging runway shows as of 2021 to a front row graced by the likes of Anna Wintour! Its handbags pay subtle homages to its mythmaking. Crafted from nappa and radica leather inspired by the steering wheels of the ’70s, buffered and burnished by hand, lining made of Alcantara, the suede-like fabric that lines its luxurious vehicles, and hardware reminiscent of the rivets on racecars.
“Bags have been the El Dorado of luxury,” claims Filippo Bianchi, managing director at Boston Consulting Group. Only in this timeline, it feels like every brand is out to grab a piece of that pie – fashion or not!
The World of Wealth and Wellness
“People are a little bit less tied to legacy and logos … they want to discover something new versus having the same bag as everybody else,” Megs had opined in that same BoF interview, “It’s opening the door for the adjacent brands to extend into leather goods and do so credibly.”
In fact, it isn’t like there’s a dearth of handbags in the market – if anything, there’s too much. The big brands, the mid-market maisons, the contemporary carryalls, and the novelty numbers are all vying for your attention from that same 9:16 smartphone real estate – giving you, the consumer, a vast number of options.
So, why are Alo, Nili Lotan, and Ferrari only jumping on the bandwagon now?
Part of their appeal, ultimately, boils down to pricing. As handbags from the premier maisons seem to have pretty much disappeared from the $1,000 (or even $2,000) mark, Nili Lotan’s Jane shoulder bag or Ferrari’s La Ferrari Dino top-handle, listed on their sites for $1,400 and $2,300, respectively, offer a much better deal to buyers.
But more so, bags – a category that has traditionally been more profitable than ready-to-wear, and thus, makes up the bedrock of the luxury business – offer an easy extension to the brand identity.
“We saw our girls wearing Alo with designer luxury bags, which made it feel like a natural progression,” chimes in Abby Gordon, the brand’s chief design and merchandising officer. Thus, its fine Italian leather handbags are more than just a receptacle for your things – they hold your energy.
Similarly, for a label like Ferrari, that famously strives to deliver one car less than the market demands, and is now enjoying renewed pop-culture interest thanks to the 2023 film of the same name, a fashion line is a savvy way to reach a bigger market without downplaying its main line (or even introducing a diffusion line of vehicles).
Ultimately, in a world where wellness and wealth have taken over as the badges of honor from the logos of yesteryears – and a gym membership or smoothie holds greater cultural cache than an it-purse – non-fashion brands are the ones ahead of the curve.
And it’s the heritage houses that’ll have to catch up.
Featured image via Alo.
Those leather ALO bag is ugly, or maybe I’m not in their targeted audience.