Dear Frances’ New Bag Line Is Set To Be This Summer's Cult Must-Have
There are some brands where signature shapes speak louder than logos. Those ‘if you know, you know’ ones that exude quiet luxury with thoughtful, beautifully made pieces. Dear Frances is one of those brands.
Now, the label best known for its Balla flats — yes, those mesh flats beloved by the likes of Camille Charrière, Pixie Geldof, Danielle Bernstein, Blanca Miro, and the editors at ELLE UK too — is debuting a line of luxury bags that are sure to shoot right to the top of every editor's wish list.
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‘Over the years with our shoes we’ve really grown to learn to discover who the Dear Frances woman is. We’re now in a place where it feels natural to find other ways to dress her and to excite her,’ said creative director Jane Frances, who founded the brand with her husband Scott O'Connor in 2016. ‘Shoes and handbags go together very naturally.’
The new bag line is a love letter to Italian craftsmanship, keeping the core DNA of Dear Frances front and centre. Founder Frances actually began her career making shoes in Italy, honing the practice through learning age-old traditional crafting techniques.
‘I was not so interested in working for a brand,' she said. 'I was obsessed with the craft of shoe making and the product, I was very keen to work directly with the artisans and immerse myself in the generational craft.’
Something she observed at the time was how brands either focused on using Italian craftsmanship to create very classic styles, or leaned into more fashion-forward styles that lacked artisan detail. And with that, in 2016, Dear Frances was born, a brand would bridge the gap between the two worlds, marrying traditional craft with modern design.
Initially, Frances wanted to focus on creating styles where you could see the movement of the foot within the shoe, an antidote to the chunky dad sneakers that were sweeping trends at the time. ‘I love the soft natural curves of a ballet shoe. We experimented a lot with different textures, finding the right combo to really showcase the body within the shoe,’ she said.
Fast forward a few years, and the landscape of trends shifted dramatically. On the catwalks, brands were moving away from streetwear-driven styles, as an appetite for more refined styles imbued with a sense of understated elegance took hold. Meanwhile, we were all yearning to dress up again, but not ready to let go of the practical comfort we’d grown accustomed to after months of sweatpants and slippers during lockdowns.
Ballet flats became the must-have shoe, particularly styles that would seamlessly translate from day dressing to evening wear. It was perfect timing for Dear Frances, whose hero-style, the Balla mesh flats, ticked all the right boxes, offering a directional take on a practical staple.
'A mesh ballerina is the definition of quiet luxury,' stylist Aimee Croysdill told ELLE last month. 'It’s a classic piece, but with a subtle twist that makes it more fashionable – more luxurious. The delicate nature feels ultra feminine, but without the sugary vibe of some traditional ballet flats.'
Dear Frances’ new bag collection echoes the brand’s approach to shoes: classic silhouettes that hone in on the concept of form meets function. This meant a lot of ‘physical testing’ when designing the collection, squishing, folding and draping leathers to create shapes that ‘fit the body in a natural way,’ Frances said, with ‘that sense of natural movement to it.’
Many of the brand's bags use the same artisanal techniques found in the main shoe collection. The Cosmo tote and Dante bucket bag, for example, are both hand-woven in leather, echoing techniques used to make the brand's hit new Balla Weave shoe. Another iteration of the Gio tote comes in buttery smooth leather, while the Mari crossbody experiments with pleated leather.
The first drop spans six silhouettes, with prices ranging from £495 to £1,250. ‘We want our bags to be something you could pick up, throw on your shoulder and throw everything you need into it, whilst being able to find everything you need as easily as possible as well,’ Frances said.
Say hello to your new forever bag.
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