It takes a lot to launch a new handbag brand. In addition to competing with fashion’s sacred assembly of luxury houses boasting a carefully curated selection of popular styles, now more than ever, emerging designers are flooding the market. And these brands all claim to offer something different that is set to make bag lovers swoon. Every so often, a label comes along that does just that.
Kids Disney Lion King Scar Backpack designer Brandon Blackwood. For those who don’t know, he’s the New York-based creative shaking up the designer handbag industry one structured mini tote at a time. From his playful approach to colors and materials to his Kim Kardashian-approved creations, let’s take a dive into this designer’s world.
Origins & Identity
Founded in New York in 2015, Brandon Blackwood has box stood out from the crowd. Occupying the intersection of luxury and affordability, the label’s designs embrace covetable appeal without skimping on functionality and affordability.
As a designer, Blackwood has managed to carve out a niche for himself, focusing on small, structured top-handle styles which have become a hallmark of his eponymous brand.
But it’s not just itty bitty totes for which Brandon Blackwood has become known. The brand’s social activism through design has caught the fashion industry’s hat and helped define Brandon Blackwood as a label with style and substance.
Brand Signatures
When it comes to a new brand establishing a classic bag, it should be launched with a bang – or not at all. And the former is definitely how Brandon Blackwood welcomed onto the scene the now famous End Systemic Racism design, more commonly known as the ESR Tote.
Back in 2020, against the backdrop of Black Lives Matter protests in response to rampant racial injustice across the globe, Blackwood set out to create something that could have a direct impact against systemic oppression. The ESR Tote proved a simple yet ingenious design. Emblazoned with the powerful message, the bag first gained traction in the summer of 2020 after Kim Kardashian posed with it on her Instagram.
Bristly to a structured cuboid silhouette, the tote incorporates much of the brand’s signature design elements. From the compact size and structured top handles to the variety of eye-popping colors and fun prints on offer, the ESR Tote’s cult appeal combined with its important message has made the style an iconic and collectible bag. The simplistic design has come to typify the designer’s minimalist approach to its classics which has proved key in the label’s growing popularity.
Innovation & New Designs
Despite the brand’s growing assortment of classic bags and signature design elements, Brandon Blackwood loves experimenting with new materials, textures, and shapes. From solid acrylic basket bags and crystal-studded trunks to brass hardware modeled after bamboo and Mongolian wool trimmed styles, the label doesn’t shy away from having fun with its designs.
But perhaps Brandon Blackwood’s greatest innovation lies in its exploration of sustainable and vegan-friendly leathers. Brandon Blackwood is working to diversify the materials used in high-end bags and promoting sustainability-conscious alternatives, championing the use of apple leather made from leftover fruits and vegetables, as well as recycled leather, denim, and canvas.
For his latest collection, Blackwood is putting his stamp on tried and tested, fan-favorite silhouettes like the classic shoulder bag, spacious bowling shape, and structured vanity style. The designer’s B initial emblem is at the center of many new designs, including the popular Nia flap bag. At the same time, the BB logo print appears in denim on a selection of styles to pay homage to Y2K’s enduring logomania phenomenon.
Also, in honor of retro trends, the latest offering from Brandon Blackwood sports cracked leather styles channeling the 2000s’ penchant for distressed leather accessories. We also see Blackwood embrace large and slouchy silhouettes in the form of the Sylvia design, an Handle carry-all perfect for your next model-off-duty look, and the Rouched top-handle style that any fan of 2010s-era totes is sure to love.
