| The Cambridge Satchel Company | |
| Type: | Private |
| Founder: | Julie Deane and Freda Thomas |
| Location Country: | England |
| Locations: | 4 shops |
| Key People: | Julie Deane |
| Area Served: | Worldwide |
| Industry: | Retail |
| Products: | Leather goods |
The Cambridge Satchel Company is a British company that produces satchels and other leather goods.
The company was founded in 2008, in Cambridge by Julie Deane and her mother Freda Thomas as a way to pay private school fees for Deane's children. She had been looking for a durable, timeless schoolbag for her children, describing her goal as "what Harry and Hermione would have used at Hogwarts"[1] and telling her children "Harry Potter. I am telling you that is a boy that would have had a satchel with that Hogwarts school uniform."[2] [3] Her colourful handmade leather satchels are based on an original Oxford and Cambridge satchel design and were aimed at school children, but met unexpectedly high demand as a fashion accessory, and became, according to The Guardian, "a cult among twenty-something fashion bloggers". The company was started with just £600.[4]
An early boost came from being featured in the 2009 Guardian Christmas Gift Guide (as a men's accessory),[5] which triggered "an avalanche of orders".[6]
Following coverage by international fashion magazines and a collaboration with the fashion brand Comme des Garçons, production of the satchels increased from three homemade items a week to 1,500 in 2011, and turnover increased from £15,000 to an estimated 8 million in 2011. The company ultimately started their own Cambridge Satchel factory near Leicester. By 2011 they were making over 3,000 bags a week in the UK and selling to 86 countries.[7] By 2014 they were making 500 bags a day, with 2013 sales of £13 million.
In 2013 they opened their first physical store,[8] and as of 2015 they had 4 stores in the United Kingdom.[9] In 2015, after focusing on women, the first line aimed exclusively at men was launched, along with the first store specifically targeted at men.[10] [11]