Mary Jane has received a major makeover in the wake of marijuana acceptance
across the US, leading to rise of couture cannabis gear. Amongst this new
found gap in the fashion market is AnnaBís, a luxury range of handbags
designed to conceal your stash, whilst still being incredibly functional
and beautiful for everyday use. Founded by baby-boomers Jeanine Moss and
Ann Shuch, AnnaBís is said to be the world’s first handbags to
include odour-lock technology.
“As a marketer we are always looking at markets and seeing opportunities,
whilst wishing we had the chance to take our marketing all the way through
to create the thing we know should be there,” explained Moss to
FashionUnited. “And that is what AnnaBís is for me.” Moss, with a
background in marketing and advertising, and Shuch, a Parsons School of
Design graduate who met through a mutual friend at a party, first stumbled
upon the idea for AnnaBís when they were discussing the lack of the
Gucci-bag equivalent for women within the cannabis industry.
Launched online at annabisstyle.com just in time for the holiday season,
the first collection from AnnaBís consists of 3 items made from Italian
leather; a small pouch, named the Melissa (175 US dollars), a vape case,
known as the Whoopee (120 US dollars) and the Chelsea, a cross-body bucket
bag (295 US dollars). Available in 3 leather colours, the range was created
around the needs of the modern, professional women. Whilst researching what
it is these women exactly where after in a handbag, Shuch and Moss
discovered that women not only wanted a fashionable and functional bag, but
also one offered them discretion.
“This question was very important to the women we spoke to, who asked what
would happen if they would leave it out or if something would fall out of
the bag – discretion is very important to women who consume,” explained
Shuch. “They want to be able to pick and choose who they want to share it
with.” After hearing numerous horror stories from women who had their stash
or medicine spill over the table during a meeting, the duo knew that
tactfulness when it came to the bag’s contents was high on the priority
list, along with design and quality.
“We really felt like there are a huge amount of women embedded in the world
who have been reasonable, professional but not identified,” said Moss. “But
we knew she was there and we felt that she needed to be honoured –
ourselves as well by the way, because we are that woman too – we also
wanted to combat stigma about women who consume.” Both Moss and Shuch, who
grew up in the 70s around cannabis, agree that the time was right to
address this woman and satisfy all of her handbag needs, whether she be 25
years old or 50 years old.
“One of the wonderful things is how the millennial generation gets along
with the baby-boomers which is an important point for our design as we
created these bags to be able to cross generations,” continued “Because
the AnnaBís women is not about an age, it is about an attitude
towards life.” A good example of the bags generational appeal can be see in
both Moss and Shuch daughters, who are in their late twenties and early
thirties. Although they don’t consume, they still love the handbags for
their design and quality appeal. “My niece was our first customer actually,
she bought 5 bags,” added Shuch with a laugh.
Although some may wonder if women are willing to spend hundreds of dollars
on a bag for their cannabis, Moss is quick to point out that AnnaBís is not
necessarily for every woman. “If you don’t care about fashion, style,
quality and beauty then you’ve got baggies! We did not want to address that
market with AnnaBís. We wanted to address the other market, who cares about
aesthetics, quality construction and a high level of functionality.”
Another reason behind the bags price mark is the fact the duo design and
manufacture everything together with their team and had to go through
rigorous testing phases in confined quarters to ensure the final bags were
exactly what they wanted them to be.
Each bag contains a custom made jacquard lining which helps lock in
any odours, and the AnnaBís logo. The idea behind the logo is that women
will be able to identify a “kindred spirit” when they see it on the
handbags. Although the first collection, and all collections to follow will
be launched limited edition, Shuch will ensure that any popular
silhouettes, textures or colours come back in future collections in order
to keep the assortment offered “fresh and new”, and to ensure women are
able to stay “individual.”
“We are women – we don’t just want one bag, we want something
for night-time, daytime, casual wear, we want numerous bags and we think
that you will want to have an AnnaBís bag wardrobe,” noted Moss. With the
next collection slated to launch next month, offering more uni-sex and
vegan options (as both were highly requested after the initial launch),
both ladies maintain that for now they are looking to develop to best
possible handbags they can. “We are starting to make the best handbags
ever. The only the best, that’s what we want to be. Once we nail that,
which is probably going to take the better part of next year, then we will
be developing and looking at all the other great things that women want and
need.”
Although the brand recently launched, AnnaBís has received praise from all
over the global, and orders as well. “We’ve received overwhelming positive
reactions from everyone,” said Moss, adding that not only were people
inquiring how and where they could buy their bags, but also if they could
work for the label or even become a vendor AnnaBís. “We think it’s only a
matter of time before department stores will be carrying us and we are
looking forward to that,” pointed out Moss. “But first they have to have a
better level of acceptance [towards cannabis] and we think that is still a
few years away.”
“We just opened a new category here, a new accessories section and any
retailer who wants to carry us will have to be at the forefront of retail.”
Photo credit: AnnaBís