SMART LUXURY
Mezzi handbags aren’t your everyday accessory.
The luxury handbag market is a compact and competitive space that has changed little — if at all — in the last 40 years. From materials to design, not much is new among the seasonal creations coming from the top-tier brands.
At least that’s according to 35-year-old Vancouverbased venture capitalist Keir Reynolds.
Sensing an opportunity for growth and modernization in the industry, Reynolds, who owns the consulting firm Mammoth Market Advisory, hatched a plan.
“I was sitting down with a friend who had a company selling cases and duffel bags and he was having a challenging time with it,” Reynolds said. “While I was looking at the business I thought, wow, this could be a really good business, but it needs to be positioned quite differently.” And reposition it he has. Under Reynolds’ guidance, the Mezzi brand resurfaced in November as a collection of luxury leather goods touting the tag line Smart Luxury.
“We were looking at the concept of luxury leather goods, mainly the handbag market and fashion accessories, talking about how the market hasn’t really changed in the last 20, 30 or 40 years in terms of the types of materials,” said Reynolds, who is now the chief executive of Mezzi.
“So, we came up with a completely new concept, new vision, new designs and started our own business.”
But the Mezzi designs aren’t just your everyday accessory. They tout a technological element, too.
Inspired by the “big movement” several companies are making to bring together high fashion and smart technology, Reynolds, who cited Apple Inc.’s Apple Watch as an example of the latest techmeets-style innovations, set out to create sleek options for the tech-savvy fashionista.
“We are all now running around with these things called ‘wearables,’ which are really ugly, plastic and look very nerdy,” he said. “We thought this is a perfect time to take a different approach — to go from not a tech angle but from a high fashion angle and then incorporate technology seamlessly into it.”
So what exactly is “smart luxury?”
Adopted as the young brand’s tag line, Mezzi is being touted as one of the first luxury leather products to allow users to connect their handbag to their phone.
“Our first technology is a crowdsourced (Global Positioning System) technology,” Reynolds explained. “We are really sort of revolutionizing, or disrupting, the traditional GPS space by utilizing a low-power Bluetooth sensor.”
Each Mezzi bag ships from the United States-based manufacturer with the GPS technology already installed, according to Reynolds. Essentially, it’s a built-in security feature for your leather investment.
“It is seamlessly integrated into the bag,” Reynolds said. “Our goal is to be the ultimate stealth wearable, where nobody can see that it has technology running within it.”
The GPS technology functions using an efficient battery that allows for functionality without re-charging. The battery lasts for about two years and runs all the time, according to Reynolds.
“The big difference is that with our technology, you don’t have to run the Mezzi app to get functionality,” he says.
“We utilize other apps, devices and Bluetooth telephones to essentially create a GPS environment.”
The company is in the process of releasing its own Mezzi-branded app in the Apple iTunes store.
So, why exactly would you want to have a handbag that is preloaded with tracking technology?
According to Reynolds, it’s a question of convenience for busy people who have a lot on their minds.
“If people are busy and they don’t know where they left (their bag), it shows you where it is,” Reynolds said.
The GPS is also marketed as added security in the event the bag is lost or stolen, a feature especially attractive to travellers, a segment of the accessories market the Mezzi team is aiming for next with the release of larger travel bags.
“As you’re travelling, you are much more concerned about where your bags are checked, stored or if they are going to arrive at your destination,” Reynolds said. “(Our bags) will give you a little bit more peace of mind that when you arrive at your destination, that if the airline doesn’t know where your bag is, you will have a better ability to locate it yourself.”
But this young brand isn’t only about technology — it is a luxury leather goods brand first, which is perhaps why Reynolds and his Mezzi team tapped renowned Vancouver fashion designer Raif Adelberg for his expertise in the high-end market, naming him the president and head of design at Mezzi.
“If there is one guy locally who is synonymous with cool luxury, it’s Raif,” Reynolds said. “He brings 25 years of design experience and he has a lot of contacts related to the luxury space.”
With Adelberg at the design helm, the Mezzi line has been created for “someone who is not necessarily looking to rock an existing brand but wants a handmade, high-quality item,” according to Reynolds.
Reynolds hopes the line of bags, which includes envelope clutches, tote bags and briefcases priced from $592 to $2,330, will also resonate with shoppers who are looking to bypass overseas production in favour of something crafted a little closer to home. Mezzi bags are manufactured in factories in New York and California, a facet of the business that Reynolds hopes will establish them in the luxury market.
“(Mezzi) is perfect for an individual who is working for a personal statement piece, where they are getting exceptional design, and where they are looking to support a local economy as well because each one of our products is manufactured and assembled in North America,” he said. “It is really one of the aspects that separates us from other companies. Not a lot of people are doing that.”
The domestic element — opting for U.S. rather than Asian manufacturing — has afforded the young Vancouver company a surprising connection to a very famous French fashion house.
“The U.S. represents one of the largest luxury markets in the world and in order to save on duties, a lot of these brands will drop raw materials and then have them assembled locally,” Reynolds explained. “So, one of the factories that we work with is one of the non-store-owned factories that does work for Louis Vuitton.”
While the Mezzi bags wouldn’t be confused for Louis Vuitton pieces, the craftsmanship connection has allowed for a few similarities.
“The same edge painting, the same thread, the same leather, in some cases, are used in our products,” he said.
With the company’s design and marketing teams headquartered in Vancouver, and its manufacturing and customer base blossoming within the U.S., Mezzi is quickly becoming a North American brand. And that is just the way Reynolds wants it.
“We are looking to be an American luxury option, in the fashion and accessories space,” he said, citing Detroit-based watch brand Shinola as the inspiration for the Mezzi business model.
And much like its new take on fashion-meets-tech, the company is looking to build its brand using the most modern form of direct-to-shopper marketing: social media.
“I think, today, social media is very important for building brand awareness. It is the fastest way to consume information and it is where the majority of people who are active online are doing (brand building),” Reynolds said. “So, what we have decided to do to help position the brand is to work with existing fashion bloggers who have educated subscribers. “
To date, Mezzi has tapped international style stars such as Rumi Neely of Fashion Toast and Shea Marie of Peace Love Shae, as well as Vancouver fashion bloggers Cara McLeay of A Fashion Love Affair and Jill Lansky of The August Diaries.
“It allows us to get into the mix so we are alongside other successful brands,” Reynolds said. “And it really helps in our brand positioning to be featured alongside Celine, Louis Vuitton and Saint Laurent.”
And the approach appears to be working for the brand.
The company sold out of the pre-holiday collection, according to Reynolds.
“It was very well received,” he said.
While the brand is available only through the ecommerce website Mezzi.com, Reynolds says a roster of select retailers is in the works.
“Right now we are focused on some boutiques on the wholesale side, to offer the ability to touch and feel the product in some of the major markets here in North America, Europe and Asia here in the next quarter,” he said. “We will see where the future takes us.”