The lesser-known label is crafting some of the most colourful croissant bags in the game, and its founders are on a mission to get them nestled onto the shoulders of every fashion lover worth their salt.
If you’re on the hunt for your next kindred handbag, then before you consider remortgaging your house in order to splurge, there’s a lesser-known label you might want to peruse where all of the cult-status bags are under £100.
Founded in 2016, JW Pei has asserted itself among the most covetable bag brands the world over thanks to its kaleidoscopic croissant bag, the Gabby, which is available in a clutch of colours. The Gabby is Gigi Hadid, Hailey Bieber and Emily Ratajkowski approved, and, across the board at the recent fashion months, there were JW Pei microbags resting on the shoulders of fashion insiders and editors alike. In short, it’s an affordable bag brand with totes that look far more costly than their relatively modest price tag.
Established by husband and wife duo Yang Pei and Stephanie Li, JW Pei was founded to indeed hit the sweet spot between high street and high end. “I wanted to create a product that was affordable for everyone without breaking the bank, so that everyone can look chic and stylish without spending a fortune to look fabulous,” Li tells Stylist.
Her suspicions were right, the space in the market for such a brand was less of a gap and more of a canyon, one which JW Pei filled effortlessly with its vegan bags, which Li is determined to make as “sustainable” as possible by exploring the possibility of working with recycled materials.
“We knew we were onto something when we saw how fast our Instagram community was growing and how engaged they were with our brand,” Li says. “It has been so exciting to see how people creatively style our bags, and especially for other people to be inspired by that.”
Currently valued at approximately £36.4 billion, the global handbag market is expected to soar to £57 billion by 2028, a rise of 7%. The appetite for accessibly-priced handbags is increasingly apparent too, after middle-market pioneer Telfar was named the hottest brand of 2020, according to fashion platform Lyst, which noted a 270% increase in searches for the brand during the year.
Next up for Li is the launch of JW Pei’s latest iteration, the Fei bag, which has already been slung across the bodies of a clutch of fashion stars. For those who haven’t yet chosen their JW Pei poison of choice, it may well just be time to, before they make their way into every wardrobe the world over.
Image: courtesy of Getty.
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