Collaborating With Veronica Beard

For anyone out there who’s been living under a rock the last few years, can you tell us a bit about how Veronica Beard (V.B.) came to be?
At family gatherings [the two are sisters-in-law] we found ourselves chatting about fashion, styling and trends—what we loved, wanted and needed. Finally, with the concept of the Dickey jacket, we took the leap. We knew there were other women out there like us, who wanted a chic answer to everyday dressing.

Can you describe the V.B. woman?
We find that our customer wants a luxury experience at an advanced contemporary price point, whether she’s a millennial investing in a special occasion dress, a busy executive looking for a modern tailored suit, or a mom-on-the-go looking for a perfect pair of jeans.

Aside from your signature jacket, what items from this season’s collection would you say are must-haves?
Our power suits including the Miller Dickey jacket and Grigore pant in our statement floral prints, as well as the Liza dress in leopard print and the Fiore dress in our fun floral print or solid navy.

How do the two of you collaborate? Do you work on most things together? Or do you have different areas you each focus on?
We would not be where we are today if there weren’t two of us—our two perspectives are what make this brand so unique and genuine. While we don’t always agree on every minute decision or design detail, we are always aligned on the big picture and having each other makes our successes that much more rewarding.

You’ve collaborated in the past with other artists and brands. How do you feel collaborating with them adds to your brand and the mission of your company?
We collaborate with brands and artists who we feel share a similar vision and customer base, but who also compliment the style of our brand while bringing something new to our current offering. We want each collaboration we do to feel organic, yet unique and exciting to our customer.

Let’s talk about your Bandier collaboration, tell us a bit about how that came to be?
We feel like Bandier and our brand share the same core customer. They’re coming to us for their daily uniform and going to Bandier for their workout uniform, so it made sense to collaborate on our first activewear collaboration together back in November. It was so successful that we decided to continue
the partnership and release a second collaboration for summer!

What do you look for in workout clothing?
Workout wear is a way for you to experiment and wear crazy colors and prints that are outside your daily uniform because you’re wearing it for an hour a day, so it’s non-committal. We’re not fitness junkies, but we do like to have fun with our workout gear! We look for functional designs, but in fun prints and colors.

How did you decide to design for home?
I [V.S.B.] love decorating and interior design, so partnering with Kassatex made sense for us, because we don’t make towels or items for the home and Kassatex had a shared vision for a fun summer capsule.

In collaborating with Kassatex, did you have a vision of what you wanted to create going in?
We wanted to create fun, easy pieces for the home and travel at an attainable price point, so we landed on a collection of terry pieces including four towels with cute catch phrases like “Overboard” and “Just a Splash,” as well as a white terry blazer, leopard print cosmetic case, a reversible tote with a catch phrase on one side and leopard print on the other and a leopard print turban. With their knowledge of home products and our love for prints and clothing, we were able to create a fun assortment that feels like an extension of our collections.

Your brand and these new collaborations continue a theme of maximalism over minimalism in your style. Do you both find that this carries over into your everyday life?
We love designing the clothes you live your life in. Whether you’re getting up and getting out the door, en route to a meeting, or dressing for a special event, we believe our greatest advantage is that we are women designing for women and that we know what you need. Our brand is built on accessible, thoughtfully tailored clothing that you can live in for any occasion and like our homes, we want our stores to have that same nviting and fun vibe that reflects our personalities but is also welcoming.