Meet Barcelona based atelier, Vocco. Masters of luxury luggage and travel bags.
With the world opening up again and people are beginning to travel again for city breaks or far away beach holidays. The luggage we choose to use is so important to guarantee it giving you the most room to store your precious belongings and also refraining from damage when coming around the luggage carousel at the airport.
Many mainstream luggage brands do not create products of such a luxury quality whilst creating a good working environment for their staff and being sustainable.
Vocco Atelier will be your new best friend when travelling. The luxury travel brand create beautifully minimalistic weekend bags, beach bags, travel bum bags and luggage.
We spoke to Elena one of the co-founders of Vocco Atelier to discuss why they saw a good gap in the market for luxury travel bags with a sustainable backstory.
Over to Elena to hear about the story of Vocco Atelier…
What was the inspiration for you to create super quality luggage bags?
We are a couple that loves traveling. We do it as much as we can and we always carry with us weekender bags. It’s Friday afternoon, we put some basics in, we put our bags on the trunk and hit the road. We love road trips through the countryside and see how the seasons changes the colors of the fields. We often go to Costa Brava to discover new corners and drive through dusty roads. Many times those small trips have surprises like this beautiful sunflower field we encountered in one of our first photo shootings (https://www.voccoatelier.com/blogs/journal/capture-the-sunlight)Our designs are inspired by these fields, these colors and of course the natural fabrics that match perfectly with the Mediterranean countryside in Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey or Morocco. We also enjoy studying that shared common history we have through our connection with the Mediterranean Sea.
Did you feel there was a good gap in the market for luxury travel bags?
We wanted to create the perfect bag to carry all our essentials for a Weekend Getaway. We designed the Weekender Bag that we wanted for us. It had to be ethically handmade with premium materials and using a sustainable manufacture process to minimize waste and reduce over-production. At the same time it also had to be functional, strong, elegant and timeless so that you could wear them forever. We use lots of neutral colors so that you can match them with any outfit. They have a minimalistic touch and refined details. Natural linen is the main fabric we use to create our bags. Using linen is also linked to our history, it was widely used in Ancient Egypt and Europe before the cotton came from the new world. We also make other type of bags such as beach bags, belt bags, toiletry bags and backpacks, all you need to enjoy your travels.
Why do you think it is important for people to have a reliable luggage from Vocco and why are Vocco bags the way forward?
Well, we definitely had ups and downs during this pandemic. We noticed itspecially on the summer of 2021 but then again the pandemic got worst again. Now is finally getting better, even though we have this terrible war in Ukraine. But still people love to travel, and fortunately we are now meeting again with friends and family and our travel bags are perfect for those short trips.
Have you found more people who have started travelling again since the pandemic have boosted your sales of Vocco luggage?
Running our own business has many difficulties and tons of hard work, it is definitely not always easy. But themain thing you have and the reason why it is worth it is Freedom. Freedom to design and do exactly what you believe in and do it the way you want to do it. In our case is using high quality natural fabrics and working from a sustainable perspective.
What is the best thing about running your own business and was luggage and travel bags always what you wanted your business to be about?
Running our own business has many difficulties and tons of hard work, it is definitely not always easy. But themain thing you have and the reason why it is worth it is Freedom. Freedom to design and do exactly what you believe in and do it the way you want to do it. In our case is using high quality natural fabrics and working from a sustainable perspective.
The whole collection is minimalistic and beautiful – with such wearable colours – what is next for your business and are there any exciting collaborations in the works?
We aim to make really wearable bags that could match with any outfit and that´s why we like to use lots of neutral colors. We also like to keep it stylish and simple at the same. For us details are very important. We want to create something unique and special that you can wear forever. Handcrafted bags which you cannot find in Fast Fashion. New types of bags are going to come out very soon!
How do you manage to keep your products sustainable and was this important for you to make superior, long lasting travel bags whilst trying to keep them sustainable in todays climate?
We have a very meticulous production process and always make them in small quantities to keep the process the most sustainable we can. We are very conscious about taking care of the planet and we try to improve that every day. We want to create a new kind of Luxury- a Sustainable Luxury, that focuses on craftsmanship and were quality is as important as reducing the planet waste. We want to slow fashion down and create styles that can endure, which will help with our goal in reducing waste and over-production. It´s also very important for us that they are ethically handmade and that´s why we design and make all of our bags in Barcelona and we pay a fair wage to all our craftsman.
Where can our readers shop your items and are you in any physical stores at the moment?
You can find us on our website (https://www.voccoatelier.com/) and on other online multi-brand stores. Follow our journey on Instagram!
You can read the full interview at Galerie de Aims here: