Peter Nitz Atelier and James Banks Design are joining forces for a new leather goods brand.
The Swiss leather goods brand and fine jewelry label, respectively, have come together to launch Peter & James, a leather goods brand that debuted several months ago with its collection of Butterfly Bags.
The bags, which come in four colorways and three metal finishes and are priced at 3,200 euros, have already become an instant hit after the accessory was featured on the most recent season of Netflix’s “Emily in Paris.”
“It’s so identifiable and iconic to our brand that we felt like this was a great foray into it,” said James Banks Design and Peter & James founder Adam Shulman. “We’ll definitely do other motifs, but we’re going to take cues from the jewelry because I’m drawn to design companies that have created a DNA and they keep iterating on the DNA. That’s our product plan — to iterate on our DNA., what works, what we know our customers like and all the iterations we can do.”
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Shulman explained Peter & James’ Butterfly Bags took roughly two years to design. The bag is designed on a hinge mechanism that allows customer several ways to wear the bag. The style can be worn as a backpack, crossbody, shoulder bag or clutch.
The Peter & James Butterfly Bag
Peter & James
The founder explained he and Nitz chose to launch Peter & James as a stand-alone brand to keep it separate from their existing accessories labels. Shulman said he hopes to eventually merge Peter & James with James Banks Design and expand the brand into other categories, such as home goods.
Peter & James is continuing with the butterfly motif for upcoming launches. The brand has plans to introduce other leather goods like wallets, AirPod cases, makeup bags and other styles. In the handbag category, Peter & James is currently developing a tote bag that is also designed in the shape of butterfly wings.
The brand is mostly operating under a direct-to-consumer model, with its sole retail partnership with Dover Street Market in Japan. Shulman said the Peter & James customer is similar to that of James Banks Design.
“Our customers are people who don’t want to have what everyone else has,” he said. “They want something that’s intriguing. They want something that can create a conversation, so I think our customers are romantic. I think they’re storytellers themselves.”
Shulman is leveraging his cautious approach to growth from his James Banks Design label for Peter & James, specifically focusing on its direct-to-consumer model and the brand’s partnership with Dover Street Market.
The founder launched James Banks Design 15 years ago with jewelry designer Heidi Nahser Fink, specializing in handmade fine jewelry pieces. The brand also has its own collection inspired by butterflies, as well as other collections like The Code, which is inspired by locks, and Lightkeepers, which depicts a lightbulb.
James Bank Design also operates on a mostly direct-to-consumer model and has a retail partnership with Bergdorf Goodman.
The jewelry label recently expanded into men’s jewelry with its Vault Collection, which can be customized to include various gemstones. Shulman explained Peter & James will leverage some James Banks Design collections to slowly offer newness.
“Much like James Banks Design, I think we’re going to start [with the Butterfly Collection], but I think we’ll also go into the Code motif,” he said. “We’re going to do boxes, leather catch alls and things like that, so we’ll definitely branch out.”
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