THE WOMEN

When I launched KeriKit, the original collection featured my family‘s names and each one was very personal to me for obvious reasons. But as my collection grew, some of those styles didn’t make it to the next season and my immediate pool of names dried up (my family just isn’t big enough for all the bags I want to design!)

One of the most amazing things about my Facebook group – The KeriKit KitGirl club is the fact that we all collaborate on what comes next with KeriKit. You can join here. Hundreds of heads are better than one, right? I always listen to my customers as with their input I am bound to design what they want to a certain extent. So it is with great pride that I can explain to you the story behind some of the bag names used more recently as these are the names of my fellow KitGirls who came up with some of the amazing ideas below.

To keep abreast with all things KeriKit, visit the KeriKit Club for exciting news.

Our new ‘Westwood’ bag is named in honour of Vivienne Westwood, a true British style icon with a career spanning the last 50 years. She has led the way on global fashion trends and epitomises the feminist British punk rock theme.  As well as running one of the last independent global luxury fashion houses, Vivienne supports many sustainability causes.

From ‘Cool Earth’ focusing on saving the rainforest and stopping climate change, to ‘Environmental Justice Foundation’, ‘Friends of the Earth’, ‘Amnesty International’ and ‘War Child’. One of the most famous quotes connected to sustainable fashion is made by Vivienne: “buy less, choose well, make it last”. Our thoughts precisely.

Our Westwood bag echoes just the same sentiment; Modern, super-sexy, with a biker style/ rock chick vibe, this bag has it all going on and it is built to take you and your Kit anywhere.  Made in two sizes so you have the perfect size holdall for everyday use and the weekender for when we finally get to travel again.

This designer leather bag fuses fashion with function thanks to the two internal compartments allowing a place for tech and a roomy pocket for your daily essentials, pack lunch or baby paraphernalia.  I want you to have fun with this one ladies -release your inner rock chic and go make some amazing memories just Like Vivienne!

Next up we have the Jones. Carolyn spotted a picture of an old sample I have been trying to get right for nearly 3 years. I posted it on my stories one day and she screenshot it in a flash and then spent the next two years subtly reminding me how much she loved the design and that I must not give up! Carolyn felt it would be a really great addition to the collection and it appeared others agreed. My issue is that I am a perfectionist and as I couldn’t get the flap to behave in the way I wanted. I wasn’t sure we could get it right however seeing the love for the style grow I decided to go back and get it right!

Gretchen also gave me some valuable input on a few key features that were then added and finally the bag took shape. I still wasn’t happy with it though! (typical Virgo!) So I went back to the drawing board and re-worked it one final time adding removable buckles, a new quilt design on the flap and a wide band around the gusset and finally I was happy with the result!

Our Jones bag is a stylish, go anywhere shoulder bag for everyday adventures. When you’re not out on an all-day mission, but still want effortless organisation and style, Jones will be your go-to handbag for seasons to come. Now everyone loves it so much they want me to do a midi / mini version too ;)

Lillian Chau has supported my brand and has nearly every bag in the collection for which I am eternally grateful. However, there was one bag she felt was really missing from the range which was an updated version of a bag I created in my second year called Francis. Francis was a gorgeous tote that did really well so it seems a bit crazy that I stopped running it after just one season. Over the past three years the brand has naturally developed, so I updated this gorgeous tote with some of the new features that have been added to my bags and Lily was born.

Thank you, Lilian, for pushing me to recreate this style as the results are beautiful and it makes the perfect workbag taking up to a 16-inch laptop!  

Think the never full but with loads of pocket sand utterly organised. The exterior has gorgeous, quilted slip pockets and it slides over a trolley for an easy commute. Inside the bound interior makes it a dream to find everything while the genius pocket details keep your essential sin easy reach be it a baby bottle or gym flask and it has super cute penholders and a new notebook holder too.

If you are rushing out as a busy mum or dashing out to the office or gym or the music studio this bag is something that you can throw anything into and just zip up the top and look on top of your style game. Anyone can use it, and everyone will love it. It’s a designer leather bag for everything and a wardrobe essential in the making.

The Greta is a gorgeous bag that either you or your daughter could wear due to its compact and versatile style.  Beyond its looks, there is a good deal of substance.

The Greta bag is named after Greta Thunberg who most of you will already have heard of.  For those of you who have not, Greta Thunberg is a young Swedish environmental activist who has gained international recognition by campaigning to raise awareness of climate change issues. We respect her inner strength and commitment to stand up for her principles, and hope to raise awareness for her cause by naming our bag the ‘Greta’ in her honour.

At KeriKit we are always trying to improve our process and ensure that our business is as environmentally sustainable as possible. With that in mind we run a carbon off-set programme; planting two trees for every order placed.  You have the chance to get involved too, by matching our donation and thereby planting extra trees.  The result of our donation is that the carbon footprint of your bag is offset within the first four years of ownership. However, we expect you’ll go on to enjoy the bag for many more years after that!

We are also working really hard to ensure that everything that we use is recyclable, including all our packaging. We believe that by naming our newest design the ‘Greta’ stresses our commitment as a business to behaving in an environmentally conscience way.

Named after 'Annie Lennox', the musical legend, singer-songwriter, who founded the internationally-renowned band 'Eurythmics', and later established a wildly successful solo career. However, aside from penning some of the most poignant songs of our time, it is the way that Lennox uses her status and platform to help so many people, especially women.

Lennox is a longtime supporter of Amnesty International and Greenpeace, and has campaigned tirelessly for AIDS awareness and gender equality. She is also an icon within the LGBTQ community, and has established her own initiatives including the SING campaign -supporting women and children affected by AIDS - and The Circle, a unique networking hub of women around the world that promotes equality for women and girls, in a fairer world. From offering support to girls living with HIV and AIDs to creating a peer-to-peer connecting network for female journalist working in conflict zones, it is a ground-breaking and life-changing initiative that would not exist without this remarkable woman.

Why this bag?

The Lennox Handbag is elegant, beautiful and commanding - you can take it anywhere and feel supremely confident and self-assured. This is also how we see Annie Lennox, and carrying Lennox each day helps to remind us that we all have a vital role to play in making the world a better, fairer place for all. Her music and her activism inspire us to blaze a trail for every woman that comes behind us. 

Named after Amber Wardell, founder of parenting blog, The Sensible Mama. After completing her PhD, Amber took a corporate job in line with her degree that required 80 hours of work per week or more. She met her husband there, and they quickly decided they wanted kids, but her role just wouldn't allow the time Amber wanted to spend with her babies. So, they figured out how to live on one income while Amber started a business that would allow her to have a career she loved.

While still being at home with the children, and The Sensible Mama was born! Amber was one of the first to develop her own unique style of blogging around parenting, and has gathered a large global following thanks to her no nonsense approach to motherhood. As an entrepreneur and business woman, Amber is an inspiration as to all around the importance of making personal connections first, and doing business second. 

Why this bag?

The Amber Backpack is the latest addition to the KeriKit family, and was designed with Amber Wardell in mind. She is stylish, smart & successful, but also approachable, which aligns perfectly with the elegant, soft design of the Amber backpack.

The design is wholly 'sensible', yet offers a fashion twist, and stands-out against the rest thanks to its unique design. A true original, like Amber Wardell!

Named after 'Joy Adamson', the naturalist, artist and author, who is best known for her unique experiences in the 1960's raising an orphaned lion cub named Elsa. Her and her husband George blazed a trail in animal conservation, and committed to ensuring Elsa be returned to the wild, spending several months training her to hunt and survive on her own. 

Fortunately Elsa became the first lioness successfully released back into the wild, the first to have contact after release, and the first known released lion to have a litter of cubs. Joy released a book about her time with Elsa, titled 'Born Free', which became an international bestseller, and was later made into an award-winning movie of the same name. Joy spent the rest of her life raising money for wildlife, thanks to the popularity of Born Free.

The book was followed by 'Living Free', which is about Elsa as a mother to her cubs, and 'Forever Free', which tells of the release of the cubs Jespah, Gopa and Little Elsa. Adamson shared all the book proceeds with various conservation projects, and spent her last 10 years travelling the world, giving speeches about the perils faced by wildlife in Africa. 

Why this bag?

The Joy Backpack combines a unique look with a practical layout, keeping you hands free when you are on the move. Joy always looks on trend, with its timeless design, and effortless 'grab and go' nature, matching Joy Adamson's no nonsense approach to life. We believe that Joy Adamson would have been proud to have our bag named after her, mainly to help spread awareness for her conservation dreams, and we hope to continue this legacy however we can.

The Frances keyring is a beautiful lanyard, made up of three components.  It has a handy little pocket to store your office I.D. and room for a credit card too.

There’s also a wrist loop, printed with words our Kit Girls submitted to express how they perceive KeriKit and how our KitGirl group makes them feel. One of the nicest 3 words submitted were ‘Kindness’, ‘Inspiration’, and ‘Togetherness’ which create KIT, which I thought was really lovely. For the third part of the lanyard there are two little tassels which you can take off if you like and add to your Greta bag, or any of the other bags in our range as an accessory.

This design came to be called Frances following submissions from our Kit Girls.  I asked them to answer the question, ‘who inspires you most in your life and why’?  We had lots of inspirational stories and names submitted, and I then created a poll so that our Kit Girls could be the ones to decide on the winning story.

Candace Lawson told an amazing story about her mother Frances, and it won our hearts.  We decided therefore to call this new design the Frances to represent someone that we all felt inspired by in the Kit Girl group.

Anna Sullivan came to me with the suggestion of packing pouches. To be honest I had never really use packing pouches when I had my children and I did feel that the perfectly placed pockets in my bags offered all the interior organisation you could ever need! But then I started watching videos of my customers with their KeriKit bags and I noticed how many customers particularly in America used pouches for everything so they could easily switch from bag to bag.

I could also see that their KeriKit collections were growing, and I realised that packing pouches are a great solution for people who want to switch between their bags each day and so the Sullivan packing pouches were born.

Created as a nest of 3 sizes, with a cute little see-through patch on the front, you can easily see what is inside each one and they all have a D-ring so you can attach the wrist loop that comes with them for hands free, fuss free days.

Anna was not done with her great ideas and more recently came back to me with the suggestion of little versions of my big bags in the form of bag charms.

These charms can attach to the larger bags and house handy essentials such as AirPods, hand sanitisers, hair bobbles and lip salves for example.

Next season we will be launching the Anna charms which will be miniature versions of the Lennox, Joy and Amber and I cannot wait to add these to the collection - thanks Anna! :)

The Lennox has a beautiful shoulder strap which can be removed. This caught the attention of another gorgeous KitGirl, Gretchen who came up with a similar suggestion of creating this as a stand alone piece… and Voila! the Gretchen strap was created.

I love this strap for a few reasons. Firstly, people often ask me what the zip down the centre is for, I simply say because it’s pretty and I wanted to add it. I never cut corners in my products and don’t create my designs for maximum profit.

I make beautiful products that make people happy, which are versatile and hopefully a little bit empowering too and I love how the strap is so versatile it can be used on any of my bags even the backpacks. I made the Gretchen 60cm long which is longer than the standard strap, so it works perfect with straight edged designs such as the Harry, Milly, Greta and Teddy too.

Aishwarya has been in the KitGirl group for several years now and from memory she was the first member to offer up a design idea in the group. She suggested selling the Lennox tassel as a standalone piece and with that the Warrior was created in her honour.

I love that you can add your own initials or a short name on the leather tag, then on the other side there is a handy slip pocket for a daily affirmation, ID card, business card or a picture of your children or family. This makes this item deeply personal to you and reminds you to go out there and be a warrior every day and reach those goals – remember you’ve got this!