Meet La Pochette – The Brand Vogue Called Their ‘Gym Bag Hero’

4 min read

La Pochette is a luxury, sustainable, accessories company, designing bags and accessories for the way people live and move today. During a given day, you could be going to the office, meeting a colleague for a coffee, taking a spinning class, flying to New York on a business trip, taking a dip in the pool, or joining friends for dinner. Combining intelligent design with super functionality, every item is carefully considered to be the best fit for your lifestyle.

Launched in 2019, the brand is now stocked in prestigious retailers, luxury gyms, the most exclusive boutique fitness studios in London and of course online at www.lapochette.co

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO START LA POCHETTE?

The lightbulb moment came at a post lunchtime Spin class with the realisation studios now provided towels, toiletries, cleats…everything. All you needed was a pouch for sweaty kit to stow in your handbag or backpack, not a bulky and often garishly coloured gym bag.

After a lengthy search it was clear there wasn’t anything on the market that met the requirements to be both functional and beautiful, and so La Pochette was born.

HOW DID THE INITIAL IDEA GROW INTO A BRAND?

We realised that whilst athleisure clothing had been steadily emerging to suit current lifestyles, accessory design had basically stalled in its evolution. The rise of boutique fitness and shorter, class-based workouts meant we now approach our fitness in a far more flexible way. It is now integrated it into our daily lives, rather than compartmentalised as something to be endured a few evenings a week.

A spontaneous lunchtime swim, spin class with friends before brunch or a wind-down post work Yoga session is now much more likely and we wanted to create fitness accessories which allow this transition in our lives to be effortless, keeping spur-of-the-moment opportunities for maintaining our wellbeing as open as possible.

WHY WAS SUSTAINABILITY IMPORTANT TO YOU WHEN DEVELOPING THE COLLECTION?

Whilst we didn’t set out to be a sustainable brand - rather we believe that every brand has a responsibility to be sustainable these days – it was concerning that no-one seemed to consider the single use plastics issue in gyms, pools and spas. Whilst we use our keep cups, reusable water bottles and bags for life in our everyday, post workout literally millions of us are reaching for a single use plastic bag to stow our sweaty or wet post workout kit on our way home.

Our pouches completely remove the need these single use bags whilst also offering a more practical alternative which won’t leak in your bag, allow harmful bacteria to grow or develop unwelcome odours while being stored due to our signature fabric with antimicrobial and deodorising properties.

We use 30-50 recycled plastic bottles in every metre of our signature fabric, used waste otherwise destined for landfill. The fabric’s ability to limit bacteria growth, deodorise and repel stains also mean they need to be washed less frequently and at lower temperatures to keep them hygienic.

Elsewhere the clear ‘Anywhere Everywhere’ pouch collection is constructed from highly durable biodegradable TPU for long life usage and trimmed with Vegan leather. Three models of the Anywhere Everywhere are TSA approved, allowing you to use them as cabin approved liquids bags, negating the need to decant all your “liquids” into single use plastic bags which are discarded after airport security stations in their millions in every airport in the world. Another hidden single use plastic issue largely ignored…

TELL US ABOUT YOUR APPROACH TO DESIGN?

Our mantra was no compromise went it came to the product design. We didn’t just want to make a kit pouch, it had to be an all-singing all-dancing hero. We spent years perfecting our signature fabric so not only was it beautiful, lightweight, water resistant and washable, but also anti-microbial and deodorising.

In terms of styling across the range, we wanted to achieve a sophisticated, minimalist look in our designs which was lacking in sports accessories. Block colouring is an enduring design feature, we worked with organic hues and luxurious darker tones for the core collection whilst the Neon collection gives a pop of colour for summer.

WHAT SETS LA POCHETTE PRODUCTS APART?

At their essence they are built on intelligent design which allows a massive flexibility of use. For example, the Wet Bags can conceal a wet bikini whilst you go onto brunch or otherwise used for porting about valuables on a spa day rather than a bathrobe pocket. The Anywhere Everywhere clear pouch range offers literally anything from a toiletries bag to a pouch to store all your tech, to a beach clutch.

For years people spoke about wanting more of a work/life balance with the flexibility to be able to work both from the office and remotely. Successive lockdowns proved that this was possible. La Pochette’s brand ethos has always been about being able to get as much as you can out of your day, and as we transition to a hybrid lifestyle, the ability to “pack up your day” has become even more relevant. Thankfully La Pochette have the products to be able to do this effortlessly.

Follow @Lapochettelife for updates and shop the collection at www.lapochette.co

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