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When it launched in 2013, Mansur Gavriel bags — specifically the bucket bags — were a BFD. There were waitlists, there were copies, there was a stockist page that read like a who’s who of the indie boutique world. There was, essentially, all the makings of an It bag. Then in 2015, Mansur Gavriel did it all again with shoes.
And last week, designers Rachel Mansur and Floriana Gavriel announced what seems like the most logical next step: They will present their very first collection of women’s clothing in September at New York Fashion Week, and it will be available to shop immediately after.
So can we expect another frenzy? I’d argue that It items of clothing are harder to make than It accessories, particularly if your brand identity is so rooted in a minimalist approach to design. (A nondescript black tote is still easier to spot than nondescript black pants.)
On the other hand, what’s made Mansur so successful is that almost every single thing it’s designed has fit so neatly into the brand’s hyper-specific ecosystem. This is a brand that knows branding — and the clothes will likely fit the same recognizable mode.
Each new product introduction feels like a further extension of the brand; more importantly, every new product is presented in the same consistent way. Mansur’s Instagram, website, and advertisements have remained true in styling and vibe from day one — everything from the colors to the way the Insta photos are cropped contributes to an aesthetic you can spot a mile away.
The same goes IRL: If you’ve been to Mansur Gavriel’s New York City pop-up store, you’ll see the floor, couches, and walls are all the same tone of “blush” that you find on the suede sandals. Every shoe design, from the ballerina flats to the loafers to the kind of weird pumps, looks like they came out of the same shoe machine. The brand even introduced a bucket bag for babies that somehow, despite its laughable size, felt like a totally natural piece of the pie.
For the past two presentations, Mansur Gavriel has shown its bags and shoes on models styled in non-Mansur Gavriel clothing, which may (or may not!) provide some hints at what September’s debut will look like. Taking the prices of the bags and shoes into consideration, price tags in the low hundreds are pretty likely. And expect to see the clothes at stores like Net-a-Porter, The Line, Moda Operandi, and La Garçonne, if the brand’s current retailers are anything to go by.
But we can bet that you’ll be able to recognize them just as easily as the shoes and bags. That’s what good branding is all about — and what will probably set off a whole new frenzy.