I love bags, they are the one thing that will always fit! I used to feel the same about shoes but then having two babies made my feet grow! So now bags are my best friend when it comes to fashion and choosing accessories. I must confess I do have quite a collection already but when I saw the gorgeous personalised bags from Will Bees Bespoke I knew I had to have one!
Each bag is made by hand and each piece is completely individual- such a gorgeous British brand. I wanted to know a little more about Will Bees and he kindly agreed to spare a few moments for an interview.
Tell us a little about yourself, the face behind the name!
I was born in Bristol, went to school there and completed higher education there too. My family always holidayed in Salcombe – it’s where my parents met – so it was a second home for me, and eventually we moved down here permanently. It was just me and my cocker spaniel until I met my wife at the London Boat Show. We married four years later, then adopted first a son, from Russia, and then a daughter. They made me get a cat too. We’re a very close-knit family; work hard, try (and fail) to play hard, but family always comes first.
What or who inspired you to enter the industry?
I’ve always been a creative type; I love coming up with an idea and turning it into something three dimensional, and from a young age I wanted to be involved in fashion. I founded a nautical clothing company called Quba Sails, which we expanded to over a dozen shops and a successful online presence. I learnt a lot there, but I always felt the need to explore pastures new and this is an idea I’ve had for a while. I soon realised it was going to be complicated; I found so many wonderful fabrics that I started thinking about how we could accommodate them all. Once I’d decided to offer that level of choice, and to give customers such an individual experience, it was a natural progression to add the personalisation element.
What is your most popular product?
It would be impossible to pinpoint a single product; the appeal of our products has been much wider than I’d initially envisaged. The smaller items – the Octavia clutches, Florence pouches, notebooks, key rings etc – are very popular with the gifting market. It’s premium product at a sensible price, and the personalisation makes them unique.
Others customers will spend a long time browsing our range of Emmeline and Lilian Totes, our Beatrix Cross Bodies or our Gertie Backpacks, carefully deliberating over which silhouette, print and colour tone best fits their personal style.
Needless to say our Liberty print range of accessories has enduring appeal with a significant cross-section of our clientele. It’s such an iconic British brand, managing to combine contemporary design with timeless quality.
I love that you use traditional tools to emboss the bags, will you be passing this skill down the generations?
My children both love coming to the workshop, and would dearly love to get their hands on the embossing tools, so that’s a distinct possibility! It would give me great pleasure if they were to take a serious interest in the business but, at three and six years old, they’re still very young, and current plans are to be a ‘mummy’ and a ‘rock star’, respectively, when they grow up.
As a working father, are you a hands-on dad?
Absolutely – I have little choice in the matter! I’ve changed as many nappies as my wife – admittedly not as well (according to her) and using far too many wet wipes in the process. We share all the parenting duties at home. My wife’s job has quite demanding hours so I do all the school runs and take the kids to their after-school activities. We’re working parents and we’re both focused on our careers, but being a parent is the most important job in the world.
And finally, for anyone wanting to be on trend for this autumn/winter, what is the print we should all be looking out for? Which of your bags would compliment this look?
At Will Bees Bespoke we believe that ‘each to her own is beautiful’. Of course we take an interest in trends, but we don’t want to religiously follow them; we want our customers to have the freedom and scope to discover what colours, fabrics and leathers best define their signature styles. That said, our Tweed and Tartan accessories increase in popularity at this time of year; they’re such traditional British fabrics, but yet they’ll always have a role in contemporary fashion. We’re also loving all things shiny and metallic this season, and we’ve got an exciting extension to our all-leather Daphne Clutch range on its way, which I’m confident will be well received in the run-up to the festive season.
Thank you so much Will, it was so lovely to learn more about you, your business and your family. I love that your daughter wants to be a mummy when she grows up, so cute!
So which bag did I choose?
Honestly I found it rather difficult as they are all gorgeous! In the end I was rather sensible and went for the Florence Pouch as I felt it would go with most things I own. I wanted to go for something that will be timeless, something to turn to again and again to complete an outfit.
Don’t you just love it?
If you fancy owning your own personalised bag then head over to the Will Bees Bespoke website. Check out the IG account too, such a lovely feed!
The post A Gorgeous New Bag and An Interview With Will Bees appeared first on What Katy Said.