Nere looks to the UK to drive growth and expansion

Australia’s number one fashion travel brand Nere, which launched in the UK in 2023, is scouting retail locations in the country as it looks to drive growth and reach of its colourful luggage and accessories.

As travel bounces back to pre-pandemic levels, the fashion luggage category continues to grow, with brands like Nere tapping into consumers' desires for personalisation and self-expression. The Sydney-based luggage brand offers stylish and durable pieces at an affordable price point in an array of colours. To date, it has provided more than 2,000 colour combinations across its travel and accessories to allow customers to personalise through colour.

“Everyone wants their luggage to match their look,” explains Felicity McGahan, chief executive of Nere and group chief executive of Strand, Australia and New Zealand’s specialty retailer of fashion handbags and luggage.

Though still in the early stages of the UK market, Nere, which launched in in Australia and New Zealand in July 2022, has now sold over 2.5 million travel products globally across suitcases, travel accessories and soft totes/weekenders, which the brand adds is enough to have 152 A-380’s of Nere flying around the world.

It isn’t just suitcases that have propelled growth at Nere, McGahan told FashionUnited that they have seen “significant success” in its luggage accessories, selling more than 1.5 million units. The three standout pieces have been the brand’s luggage tags, suitcase straps and packing cubes, products priced under 20 pounds that also come in a rainbow of colours.

Nere wants to offer value as well as fashionable options

“We take all the function of travel and connect that with fashion,” explains McGahan. “From the newness in colour to styling, such as adding totes which are currently on-trend. We look at how we can take an everyday tote and add all the fashion details to make it relevant.”

The Bondi tote comes in “gelato-inspired colours” from pastel shades of pink, lilac, yellow and aqua to neutral black and white. The style is lightweight and durable, crafted in nylon with recycled lining, and has been designed to upgrade new and existing luggage, with a travel sleeve to attach to the suitcase to make travelling easier. It also has compartments tailored to the everyday traveller’s needs, from laptops to reusable water bottles. It is also more affordable, compared to its competitors, priced under 50 pounds.

While the focus is on the 25- to 35-year-old market to “deliver the fashion message,” Nere is also appealing to families who are utilising the colourful options to “colour code their kids,” from luggage to packing cubes to take the stress out of travelling.

McGahan also believes that Nere’s biggest selling point is the timeless design and durability of its collections and being affordable. Nere offers stylish and strong exteriors with practical features, such as quality ABS hard shell material for durability and honeycomb texture for scratch resistance, self-repairing zippers, ergonomic soft-touch trolley handle, quiet smooth gliding dual spinner wheels, and recessed TSA-approved lock. While inside, the suitcases are fully lined and have a multi-pocket internal packing system. The suitcases are also covered under a 10-year warranty.

“Within the [luggage] market there is a lot of cheap and a lot of traditional,” McGahan adds. “Our goal is to take the market from cheap to value, we are priced a little bit more, but it has a 10-year warranty, and we use the most durable materials in our luggage. We ensure that our pieces are built to travel.”

Since its launch, Nere has exceeded its expectations delivering 85 million Australian dollars in sales globally, alongside a loyal following. In the UK alone, Nere has sold more than 6,600 suitcases, of which 75 percent have been in its bright colours. In addition, the brand has seen 11 percent of its UK customers placing more than one order. When it comes to the breakdown in sales, in the UK, 52 percent of sales come from suitcases and 48 percent across soft travel bags and accessories.

The brand has also identified several key differences between the UK and Australian customers. Brits tend to lean towards muted or pastel colours and keep it tonal, while Aussies go for mix-and-match bright colours.

Nere looking to the UK to get a foothold in the Northern Hemisphere

McGahan, who has more than 25 years leading retail operations, visual merchandising, store design and marketing, said while Nere is already the number one travel in Australia and has a strong reach in the southern hemisphere through its parent company Strand, which has over 300 stores in Australia and New Zealand, it sees the UK as a key market for expansion and delivering growth.

On the planned retail expansion, McGahan added: “We see a massive opportunity in the northern hemisphere to bring the brand over here and deliver a great value travel brand. There isn’t a more fashionable market as the UK and we see getting into the bricks-and-mortar space as an important step for Nere, to bring to life the brand from a service perspective for the customer.

“We are very committed to stores; we are retailers as well as brand builders. I want to be where our customer is shopping, we want to be among other fashion retailers.”

Nere currently has a small concept store in Melbourne, Australia, alongside its shop-in-shops in Strand locations in the region, but McGahan added that while Nere is in the early stages of scouting retail locations, the storefront in the UK would be larger to showcase its brand to the fullest, alongside other Strand products, such as Antler to offer a “speciality bag experience to customers”.

McGahan also sees the UK as a stepping stone to further expansion in the US and Europe: “We’ve got to unlock the Northern Hemisphere through the UK and London. If it works, there is a massive opportunity.”