Reformation's First Bags Were Years In The Making
BAZAAR has the exclusive first look at all three styles and the campaign starring Camila Morrone.
Photo: REFORMATION
REFORMATION
Reformation's most sought-out item is one that only just arrived online.
Last year, shoppers logged on to Reformation’s store and searched for bags more than any other new category, CEO Hali Borenstein told BAZAAR. Models sometimes carry top-handle bags and mini totes in e-commerce imagery, but those are anonymous, uncredited props instead of merchandise to complete a look.
This month, Reformation finally has an answer to the implicit question in all those searches: Where are the bags? The brand is releasing its first leather handbag collection—two shoulder bags and one tote, ranging from $248 to $698 in several colours—on April 24, BAZAAR can exclusively report. Camila Morrone of Daisy Jones & The Six, who had previously modelled for Reformation’s online store in 2014, poses with the new designs in a coinciding campaign.
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Morrone insists the editorial is also reflective of her own personal style, “I am inherently an on-the-go type of gal, and this campaign is all about keeping your shit together. That's how I wear my bags. They're designed for everyday use—and keeping things cute—while going from home to set to running errands to a night out.”
Photo: REFORMATION
REFORMATION
The bags are low-key yet highly luxurious, clearly made with on-the-go gals like Morrone in mind. There’s the Chiara, a sculptural top-handle shoulder bag that folds inward to create a wristlet evoking the shape of a fortune cookie. The Rosetta shoulder bag features a curved base and Goldilocks proportions—not too big to qualify as a tote, not too small to fit more than a lip gloss. The third bag, a capacious tote with tied handles called the Vittoria, has storage to rival a roomy studio apartment without losing any of its structure. (Borenstein joked that, had time allowed, she would have validated the bag’s dimensions by carrying her four-year-old daughter inside it.)
Totes and shoulder bags that could equally complement the label’s matching linen sets, vintage-inspired denim, and party dresses were always on Reformation’s vision board; shopper pleas for a collection have stacked up in a steady clip over the years. The brand's first attempts to design an It-Bag, however, wasn’t “compelling” enough to reach production, the executive said. “There weren't enough people who were like, ‘Yes, I'm buying it.’ We stopped that round of designs and we started from scratch to make sure we really have the right product.”
Photo: REFORMATION
REFORMATION
As Reformation shoppers “begged” for bags, the design team got to work on a laborious re-design process. The brand prioritized getting the product exactly right over a hasty rollout to meet demand, Borenstein said, building a new supply chain in Europe where the brand can track and monitor one hundred percent of its leather sourcing and production channels.
The final silhouettes arriving next week were elected to the offices of first Reformation bags by its employees who voted on their favourites at several points in the development process. Borenstein says the latest ballots within the office have been a near-even split between the Vittoria tote and the convertible Chiara bag.
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Photo: REFORMATION
REFORMATION
While the first collection includes flashes of metallic and peony pink leather, Reformation ultimately wanted its bags to look like something an early career Kate Moss would carry on a go-see. Minimalist references from the ’90s covered the brand’s inspiration boards, and manifested in the lineup’s largely neutral palette and logo- and hardware-free pieces. The era, “was a bit more about the key silhouette and less about all the adornment,” Borenstein said.
"This is something we want to be able to live for a very long time,” Borenstein explained of the look. If a Reformation shopper ever wants to move on from the original bags, they’re fully recyclable. But given the slow and steady care poured into the first collection, they might be exactly what the brand’s closest followers were searching for all along.