Strathberry, famous as being Meghan Markle’s favourite handbag brand, has opened its first ever boutique in Burlington Arcade, just in time for the festive season.
The Scottish handbag brand, founded by husband and wife team Lyn and Guy Leeann, first caught the public eye in December last year. Markle was spotted with a £495 tri-colour leather Strathberry tote on her first public engagement with Prince Harry. The bag in question sold out within minutes and even caused fans and press to travel to the brand founders’ home in Edinburgh.
Strathberry was founded in 2013 after the couple visited southern Spain and were impressed by the family craftsmanship in creating leather bags and accessories. After spotting a gap in the market for a luxury, yet affordable, Scottish leatherwear brand, the brand was born.
The bags are designed in Scotland and handmade in southern Spain, with no logos or branding other than a signature gold bar. Each bag is priced from £225 to £795.
While Strathberry bags were popular in Scotland for the first few years of the brand, sales didn’t really take off until a Kickstarter campaign in 2015. By the time the brand was spotted on Markle’s arm, their annual turnover had already tripled to £6 million and the brand was for sale in Saks, Lane Crawford, the Middle East, Harvey Nichols and Bloomingdales.
Since then, Meghan Markle has been spotted with several different Strathberry bags including a bottle green East/West Mini Crossbody bag, and a tan Bridle Midi Tote.
The brand’s new boutique opened last week at unit 64-65 Burlington Arcade and will host special events. Illustrator Jennifer Darr is scheduled to be in store on several dates over the festive period, and will personalise bags with customer initials or other designs.
To celebrate the opening, Strathberry has created the East / West range in a variety of exclusive rainbow colours; Blossom Yellow, Petrol, Lilac, Orange, Sage and Navy, which will be on sale at the store alongside the rest of the range.
