Rising to fast fame as the affordable, celebrity It-bag, The Cambridge Satchel Company‘s bags are quickly becoming the world’s most in-demand arm candy. Sported by the likes of Alexa Chung, Fearne Cotton and Elle Fanning, from fabulous fluro to classic black and burgundy, Leeds Student chats to the company founder, Julie Deane about the satchels’ global success.

You chose to send pictures of the bags to bloggers first, do you feel they have a stronger impact in the industry today over editors?

Bloggers were very accessible. They react quickly to new ideas and don’t have themes set months in advance. The editors are a real powerhouse though, we now have very strong relationships with them and are able to work to their deadlines as well as using the social media front to address new ideas and collections. The bloggers are a new force, they are very influential and have such niche groups of followers.

Which blogs do you follow?

The blogging community is very important to us – we have hundreds that we follow as different bloggers bring such different views and perspectives.

Have there been any strange personalisation requests!?

We have had one where the bag was an intrinsic part of a wedding proposal (thankfully she said yes!) and we had a music bag embossed for a Welsh choir conductor and the first two lines of his favourite song were embossed on the front (in Welsh). Some of the gift tags we used to write made us blush!

What are the most popular colourways?

We are best known for our fluro bags, but the vintage and the red are always in the top ten best selling – whatever the season.

Presuming you use a satchel as your go-to bag, what bag were you using before you had developed the company?

Before starting The Cambridge Satchel Company I was at home with the children, always carrying lots of things around with me. I tended to use a leather bag with a large central compartment and two others on the side that I could use to locate keys, purse, phone… I like products that are made in the UK but I’m not really a label chaser.

Was there ever a difficult point where you were ready to sack it in?

Two points spring to mind! One when we suddenly were noticed and demand exceeded supply ten times over, it was so hard to find more UK manufacturing and yet overseas manufacturers were banging on the door. Customers needed bags, I wanted them out but just couldn’t seem to get them made over here, it was very stressful! The other was after I’d found another UK manufacturer and then found out via the fashion bloggers that they had secretly launched a rival satchel line, after I had given them all my patterns and designs – it felt such a betrayal. Instead of throwing in the towel I decided to take manufacturing on myself and set up the first Cambridge Satchel Co. factory in the Midlands! We haven’t looked back.

The price point is very affordable; now that they’ve gone viral, do you plan on keeping the prices this way? ‘It’ bags usually have sky-high price tags!

Our prices are around the £100 mark, which for a leather bag, handmade in the UK is very reasonable. It’s important to us to have the bags kept as affordable as possible. Even though celebrities are wearing them and they’re appearing on the TV, it’s great to have a bag that won’t break the bank and will last.

Tell us a little bit about the scene in Cambridge…

Cambridge is a very inspirational place. The Botanic Gardens are amazing and the colours there often appear in our collections. The timeless beauty of the old buildings harks back to simpler times and that too is reflected in our bags. For us it’s about quality, design, inspiration – not really just the current fashion, so Cambridge is a perfect place to be based. We’ve collaborated with designers like Comme des Garcons, Chris Benz and Christopher Shannon, and those bags appear on the catwalks so we see two very different worlds and try to appreciate each.

Was there a defining point when you thought, “okay, we’ve done good”?

When my mum and I were invited to 10 Downing Street last year to meet Samantha Cameron, we did suddenly stop, look back and reflect on how far we’d come. Most days it’s so busy but it’s important to enjoy success so we have champagne and cake moments in the office! The factory celebrating it’s first anniversary has been a high point of the year for us, as has the Google Chrome advert- that one was very exciting!

So, what’s next on the agenda?

We are plagued by imitators so I’m not going into huge detail but there are some very exciting trends at the start of next year! We are also launching a very smart oxblood and navy satchel, which has been very well received at sample stage. Christmas will see a new mini collection, which we hope will be a hit during party season, bringing a bit of sparkle to those dark nights!

Would you consider delving into other accessories– purses, wallets, shoes etc…

 Never say never….

Photo: Courtesy of GoodLife Relations/ The Cambridge Satchel Company