Tell us about the history of your brand.
After 20 years of being immersed in the world of technology as Chief Operating Officer of a UK cloud computing PLC, I had my lightbulb moment while travelling to a meeting and realised my handbag would not take me from day to night with ease. So, I took matters into my own hands and designed my own. In 2017, I took a leap of faith and swapped IT for fashion, launching the Sarah Haran brand in 2018. Fast forward a few years, and my hobby is now a thriving business with thousands of women carrying Sarah Haran handbags.
What is your brand best known for?
The Sarah Haran brand is best known for its luxury handbags that can be customised in seconds using our range of our stylish accessories.
What has been a significant achievement in your company’s timeline?
A significant achievement for the brand was being recognised by Anna Murphy, Style Director of The Times, as producing a “genius” product. This recognition helped our brand grow through the pandemic. Having initially thought that we should pull back and hunker down, we decided instead to focus on building our brand digitally. A measure of success of this achievement has been over 10,000 customers, 5,000 five-star reviews and the ability to relocate our business from my home to a 2,000 sq ft warehouse style office in the historic town of Paisley in Scotland. We look forward to many more significant achievements.
Why do you love the brand?
Nothing is better than building a brand that is truly committed to its mission and our brand is no different. Our mission to bring joy to our customers though our luxury products and in all interactions with our community. The collective thrill we get when we hear about the joy we have brought our customers is so inspiring.
Why does your brand represent the very best in British luxury?
For our brand, British luxury is all about ensuring a high quality product through expert craftsmanship - our Atelier has over 200 years of collective skills. Couple this with our unique approach to sustainability (one handbag can be restyled endlessly, rather than purchasing another bag), and we ensure that our handbags really will last a lifetime.
What attracted you to becoming a Walpole member?
Having been through the Brands of Tomorrow programme in 2021, it was really just a matter of time before we became a fully-fledged member. It’s exciting for our brand to be part of such an illustrious group of companies, all bound together to create wonderful products or experiences for the luxury sector. We look forward to strategically growing our brand through the Walpole membership.
If you could collaborate with another Walpole member, which one would you choose?
Seeing as we plan to go on tour this year, we would love to collaborate with a number of the luxury hotel venues to bring the joy of their venues together with the joy of our handbags. It could be a lovely collaboration to bring our customer bases together.
Tell us about an exciting development or new launch for your brand in the coming months.
We are about to go on the road and with an exciting year of events planned as we seek to bring joy to our customers, both new and future. Look out for us as we take our Joy Bus across the UK.
Connect with Sarah Haran on LinkedIn.
To learn more about Sarah Haran, visit sarahharan.com
