Meet AVGVS, the New Luxury Handbag Line About to be the Next Big Thing
Photo: Brooke Testoni
While shopping for a new bag recently, I wanted to steer clear of the same-old brands I usually gravitate towards. After clicking out of Net-a-Porter—bored with the list of easily identifiable designer pieces—I started trolling blogs and Instagram for something fresh and less conspicuous—and that’s when I stumbled upon Australian label AVGVS.
Pronounced aw-guhs, the new brand’s been spotted on celebrities like Jessica Alba, and is starting to get some serious love among the Australian fashion crowd.
The ultra-minimalist leather line ranges from $399 to $799, so while pieces certainly aren’t cheap, they’re well-priced compared to some labels in the luxe accessory market.
Instantly enamored with the label’s functionality, sleek design, and impeccable quality, I quickly ordered the “Dionaea” shoulder bag ($699) and fired a few questions at AVGVS founder, Rosanna Icono to find out more about the brand.
Jessica Alba carrying the AVGVS Byblis Mid Tote ($495). Photo: Wenn
StyleCaster: The luxury accessory market is competitive, so what prompted you to launch your own handbag line?
Rosanna Icono: I had always dreamed of launching my own luxury brand, but my career as an executive in the fashion industry took precedence for so many years.
After 20 years with some the leading brands in the world I had a really clear idea of what I wanted to create—a brand that had a dark luxe edge that reflected my own style, a company with strong ethical principles, and a business that could have a global footprint.
My career also allowed me to live and work in different countries, and over the years I became a collector of vintage fashion, particularly bags. The five years I spent in Italy were especially influential—that’s where I learnt about the importance of fine craftsmanship to create items that are enduring.
What’s your best seller and why do you think it’s so popular?
Our best seller at the moment is the Byblis Mid Tote (shown above). It’s a relatively classic tote style but with a darker, subtler edge—the only branding is our serpent logo on the gold hardware hook closure, the leather is a micro-reptile textured matte calf which is quietly luxurious, and the price-point is really accessible, coming in under $500. The fact that Jessica Alba has been photographed a few times carrying hers has also helped.
Where are your pieces available at the moment? Can we shop in the U.S.?
Right now we have a small network of boutiques and online retailers that stock AVGVS, and of course we have our own ecommerce site where we ship globally, so U.S. customers, and in fact customers anywhere in the world, can access AVGVS, generally with free shipping. We are talking to some U.S. retailers at the moment, so watch this space.
How often are you designing new pieces?
We do not believe in seasons, part of our philosophy is to be global and seasonless. With our dark luxe aesthetic we will do restrained and muted tones all year-around, because this is how our customer dresses.
In saying that, we do release new designs every six months, but also carry-over a lot of our signature pieces because we believe the cycle of rampant consumerism needs to slow down in favor of quality and enduring design.
Where are the bags made and what does the design and manufacturing process look like?
We offer premium luxury (our bags are made in the same factories as some of the most prestigious luxury brands on the planet) but at accessible luxury prices—and this makes a big difference. We have two production hubs right now —Italy and China.
Whilst we do most of our development work and produce our more intricate and premium designs in Italy, we have an amazing factory in China that produces for some seriously prestigious luxury labels and has incredible know-how in terms of craftsmanship techniques, which was mostly learnt from the Italians they’ve worked with over the years.
I love that the line is minimalist but so functional—how do you achieve this?
I’m a big believer in combining form and function, so while a lot of the design is simply what I love and what I’m feeling, upon closer inspection there is a level of practicality and versatility with almost every piece.
Whether it’s built in dog clips for attaching your keys, zip pockets, smartphone pockets and pen-holders, or even padded laptop pockets in some pieces. We also have bags that convert from shoulder bags to cross-body bags like the Dionaea, and from cross-body bags to clutches like the Nerium.
I also have a lovely little archive of vintage bags I’ve collected over the years during my travels around the globe, and occasionally they also ignite ideas for some of the design cues, but we’ll never replicate a vintage piece outright.
Photo: Brooke Testoni
