Design inspiration for our bags comes from all over the place: art, found objects, authentic living, market trends, heirloom sensibilities, and both modern and classic vibes. As I am stringent about quality, aesthetics, and interior function, one bag might take me years to finish designing. If I get stuck on a design, I’ll keep tweaking it until it’s perfect, collecting user feedback along the way.

We are a detail-oriented company, and one of the most important aspects of our bags is the innovative, long-lasting, leather-framed interior organization we’ve developed. We believe everything about your bag should be elegant, functional, and ultimately make life better. Our company strives to be the obvious choice: the “bag you grab” for everyday ease and utility. As a result, we are constantly thinking about how to elevate and redefine everyday essentials.

As many businesses would agree, COVID has been the most unique challenge we’ve faced so far in our business journey. With global freight coming to a grinding halt, all acquisition of leather and hardware has proved incredibly challenging, forcing us to adjust our development and delivery calendars and remain flexible as new situations arise.

Throughout the time we were forced to close our doors, it was extremely important to us not to let anyone on our team go, a team we consider family. Although it was a financial sacrifice for the company, we managed to do that, keeping our entire team on board--a few of whom have been with us for multiple decades.

When food banks were experiencing shortages during quarantine, we also introduced a new program as a way to give back to the community and do our part to help families in need. With every purchase made on our website, we donate ten meals to Feeding America. Thanks to our loyal and steadfast customers, we’ve made it to 100,000 meals donated (and counting) since we began the initiative.

Must-know tips for growing a DTC brand

Starting a brand is a challenge, and the challenge only becomes greater the longer you’re going at it. Having helped my husband build and expand our now thirty-seven-year-old leather goods brand, I have some solid experience to back up my advice.

Here are some suggestions for how to build a long-lasting brand of your own.

1. Put the customer first.

The customer is important. They are the reason you have a business and a brand in the first place, and it’s their generosity that got you to where you are. Putting them first, listening to their needs, and accommodating their requests as best you can are how you can repay them for that generosity.

Adopting an affiliate program was one of the ways we did this at Latico. It has not only helped us connect with our most loyal customers in more full and creative ways but it’s also given those loyal customers more opportunities to be involved with a brand they love.

2. Trust the customer.

Trust the customer’s taste to guide your product expansion. Expand on what’s selling rather than reinventing the wheel for seasonal launches.

At Latico Leathers, we make sure to expand our product based on feedback from customers. We believe in quality over quantity, sustainable materials, and personal style rather than fleeting trends--and this ethos has fueled our product expansion decisions for many years.

3. Infuse the brand with your values.

Building a brand you believe in is hard work. It takes years, and a lot of dedication, creativity, and flexibility. To believe in your brand, you have to believe in its values. Therefore, infusing your brand with your values is an important way to pave the way for the years to come. You want to make sure it’s a brand that you want to put all that work into.

For Latico, that means making sustainability, affordability, and giving back a core part of the brand’s value system. Our motto is “passion over fashion.”

4. Empower loyal customers to spread the word.

Building an authentic community of brand ambassadors from our pool of loyal customers has been an ongoing project of ours--and is one DTCs brand should work on, too.

This program started organically: Without any suggestion from us, our customers became brand ambassadors and influencers via word-of-mouth referrals. They spread the word, telling their friends and friends of friends about our products. Putting our official stamp on this affiliate program was a way to give back to the people who have given to us, and to partner with people who are passionate about what we make and share our values

Looking Ahead

COVID put us through a lot this year, but we persevered, coming out the other side stronger than when we went in with year-over-year growth of over 250%.

We achieved some big wins, too: Along with being picked as official celebrity gifts for events such as the Golden Globes, the Emmys, and the Sundance Film Festival, Latico has been lucky enough to get featured regularly in Access Hollywood and in Wendy Williams’s “Hot Picks'' for her “Trendy Wendy” fashion segments.

In 2020, we were also honored with the Carlos Falchi Handbags Designer Award for Lifetime Achievement, an iconic industry award we accepted with a huge amount of gratitude.

When it comes to the future of Latico Leathers, I want to keep doing what we’re doing–putting the customers first. We focus on providing the highest quality bags, sustainability, and giving back to the community and the customers who keep us in business. As the years go on, I look forward to building on that foundation. At the end of the day, Latico Leathers is all about connection. And the connection we experience through community is what we at Latico will always champion.