Jessica Kruger is founder and CEO of Luxtra, a sustainable leather brand which uses vegetable tanned rather than chemically tanned leather, and is working with non-leather materials too. She started Luxtra originally in Jan 2017, and her first range is now in Regent Street’s ‘Next Big Thing’ store.
Tell us about the products. What makes Luxtra different?
The original idea was to do a very beautiful range of leather goods, which have a real sense of soul behind them. There are lots of beautiful brands and products out there that have no soul, and then also lots of soulful brands, which resonate with me in terms of their values, but I just don’t like the products’ aesthetics – they aren’t beautifully designed.
Our ideal customer is a woman in her late twenties to fifties. Our products are not particularly cheap – it is a handbag that someone might ask for as a gift, for Christmas, a graduation, or even a promotion present – one of these milestones of life! Luxtra is for women who are motivated about what they’re wearing, and who want their items to last a long time.
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Getting a handbag as a gift, or buying one for yourself, can really feel like a step towards being a ‘grown up’. Can you remember the first time you got a handbag, or alternatively a time when you really felt ‘grown up’?
Whenever I have a milestone, I will treat myself. After the first year at my last start-up company, Ethos, I bought a pair of shoes I really wanted. Living in Paris, I saved up for a Furla handbag I’d had my eye on. For my first Luxtra sale, that was a real milestone! It’s important to stop, take stock, and celebrate.
Tell us about vegetable tanned leather. Are there lots of vegetable tannin artisans in Italy, where you buy from – and how did you find them?
I got involved in the whole new world of leather fairs! The biggest is in Milan, and there’s one called Lineapelle that I visited in London and is also in New York. I work with a leather dealery in Kensal Rise – they give me their colour books and we work to my budget. To find that kind of supplier takes a bit of talking to people! Early on, I hired someone to be a product developer, an area specialist, and she introduced me to all these people. Now I’m more specialist myself, and can see how I can get things cheaper, better quality and so on, without extra support.
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When was the first time you saw someone wearing a Luxtra bag – has that happened yet?
I haven’t seen anyone wearing one in the street yet – that’ll be the next milestone! A lady bought one recently, and when I was in touch with her to see how she was enjoying it, she mentioned she had seen the brand through an influencer I worked with on Instagram. That was really cool! A lot of my bags go abroad actually – South Africa and Australia, where I’m from, for example. But we’ll be stocking at the new Wolf & Badger in Coal Drops Yard in King’s Cross, opening on the 1st November, which should increase publicity and sales in the UK.
What is your favourite aspect of your role? Is it the actual design? Seeing the bags in store?
Making a sale! Normally I like designing, but actually I feel a bit of pressure at the moment around designing the second range that is making it a bit less fun. There’s always decisions to be made when you’re looking at sampling new ideas, colours, manufacturers and so on. Sometimes things will come back and they just won’t look like what I wanted – I have to start again. In February and March I had a real crunch time and was super stressed around designing! But I think we’re in a good place now for the second range.
What is your personal story with Luxtra? Was there someone, or some moment, that pushed you into making a decision? Or was it more of an organic and slow-burning idea?
This idea was playing around in my brain even when I was at Ethos. Then when I Ieft, I thought I would look into it more – but I also had a lot of other business ideas to consider! One of my first ideas was cardboard recycling. At Ethos, we shared a loading bay with a lot of clothing stores – the cardboard waste out in the back was huge, and no-one was doing anything to recycle it. One of the most wealthy women in China made her fortune from cardboard – so I thought it could be a good financial idea as a well as a sustainability one. Working on a laundrette idea was another potential area, as well home as a platform for retirees and stay-at-home parents to take on projects in their local area – there’s so much potential in these demographics that isn’t being used.
So I had to take a step back and think ‘which of these ideas can I see myself doing for ten years?’ – which one would I really have the long-term stamina and excitement for? And that turned out to be the Luxtra idea.
Where is the brand at now? What are you most excited about this coming year?
There are lots of new products that we’re working on for the second range. There are some beautiful card-holders in contrasting leathers and threads, and some smaller designs in olive, tan-and-white and silver, just in time for Christmas.
Originally, I wanted Luxtra to be a vegan brand, and use no leather at all. But a lot of vegan materials have their own problems – they are petrol based, or have extensive shipping attached. Often, they don’t feel as nice to touch as our vegetable tanned leather, and so wouldn’t sell as well. I’m looking more and more at new materials like Pinatex, a faux-leather made from pineapple leaves, and Frumat, which is made from apple peel and recycled material. Pinatex though is currently more expensive than leather, and brand new leather substitutes aren’t always widely accessible to designers and small companies when they are first developed, so I may have to wait.
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Do you have a mentor, or someone who has really helped you with Luxtra, and your career more generally?
My long-term mentor, Ilse, has been a good friend since we met doing our MBAs in Paris. She mentored me properly when I started Ethos. She’s amazing as she always reminds me to take a step back, saying ‘don’t get hooked on one little thing Jessica, see the wider strategy’.
One thing I would say is that the mentoring which has been the best has been mentoring I’ve paid for. I don’t have mentors that are long-term that I don’t pay. You then have a very straightforward relationship, and people are invested in you.
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How can people who want to start out in design or accessories get started?
My usual advice is: ‘just start’. If you’re thinking about it, the question should be ‘what can you do today to get closer to your goal?’ It’s good to have on your CV things like business school, or design school, but this is by no means necessary to get going.
Another thing is that people are often very cagey about their start-up ideas, keeping them tight to their chests. I heard a great speech from the CEO of TaskRabbit, Stacy Brown-Philpot. She said talk to EVERYBODY about your idea – you don’t know what’s going to be coming your way! There’s not actually many ideas that are truly ‘genius’, and that haven’t been thought of before.
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And a question about us! How did you first come across the Eyedea network? Have there been any speakers you’ve really loved, and why?
A friend invited me to the 5 year birthday party last year in Baker Street’s Le Fix location, with the panel discussion. I thought ‘wow – this is amazing’. Squirrel Sisters, and Emily Forbes from Seenit really stood out. Whenever I find something good, I subscribe immediately, so I don’t forget – so I’ve been following ever since!
Is there anything else you want to tell us, advice for budding entrepreneurs, or plug about upcoming Luxtra events and launches?
Please do come along and visit Luxtra at the Spirit of Christmas Fair in Olympia before the 4th November, and check out our products on our website, or in store at Wolf & Badger at Coal Drops Yard! And more generally – keep positive, and try to think about life as a game. When things go wrong, it’s not that the world is out to get you, it’s just an obstacle to jump over, or a cactus do dodge, as if you’re playing Mario Kart. My motto is: ‘Every cloud has a silver lining!’ Something good always comes out of the bad things. I truly, truly believe this.
The post Belle for leather: Meet Jessica Kruger, founder of sustainable brand Luxtra appeared first on Eyedea - Female Millennials Network.