We are a Leather Goods Manufacturer In Need of Opinions

[NickH87]

Hi there, first post after doing some digging the last couple of weeks.

Trying to keep it brief, I am on here on behalf of a family owned Leather Manufacturer in Connecticut, USA. We have been in operation for 26 years, with the head of production working in leather goods for over 6 decades.

We have almost entirely been contracted manufacturers, producing for high end leather goods brands over the years. Our time is now to begin piecing together our own line of products.

We focus on Mens Business Bags, Luggage, Duffle Bags, Womens Totes.

We have an idea of choosing a few items to begin designing and producing, with high quality standards and a sort of minimal design (No logos plastered across the bags)

Certainly and obviously not the first or last venturing into this highly competitive realm, but we already have a team of 15 highly experiences and qualified artisans working full time and ready to take on the challenge.

If we were to pick a few pieces to begin, those would be:
Men's Soft Briefcase
Executive Briefcase
Women's Tote
Duffle Bag's (Two Sizes)

I feel like our competitive advantage would be our homegrown experience in producing high quality pieces that routinely sell anywhere from $500-2500 (prices set by our clients).
We certainly will be aiming to price competitively and in an affordable range for high quality leather products.

Mainly I am just looking for feedback. What types of leather bags men and women prefer, features, colors, etc.

Thank you, I look forward to any replies.

PS I have attached two images:
One from a portion of our workshop and another of a small pile of leather.
Just so you know we are legitimate

 

[Proleet]

I can list out what I like/have but you’d probably get a better sense of where the opportunity sits by scouring the forum a bit.

For briefcases the soft minimal versions seem to be well liked nowadays. For duffles I personally am still looking for something smaller than the typical one and find most standard shapes very unappealing.

Main question I’d have to you to give some thought: what makes you stand out over all the other ones in a category where it might be hard to judge quality before having something in your hands?