Brand Story
It started with a few simple “academic” questions. Why do exotic small leather goods sell for such high prices? Is the cost of such luxury items so prohibitive that only the wealthy could afford to buy them? Was it possible to produce a luxury item at an affordable price?
Vincent Quan set out to find the answers to these questions in 2017. Two and a half years later, the Ted Arthur New York brand was launched. In teaching, one often becomes the student. In early 2017, Professor Quan posed the simple questions to his freshman class at one of the most prestigious fashion schools in the world. The students were intrigued as well. The quest had begun with many lessons to learn along the way…
Producing finished quality products required breadth and depth in knowledge on the areas of product development, sourcing, design, costing, competitive analysis, technical design, branding, multi-channel retailing, quality control, consumerism, digital marketing, and social media amongst others. The journey began in New York City then to the island of Tobago in the Caribbean Sea with a stop in South America along the way. It is often said the “ends justify the means.”
Having met the designer and craftsman Ted Arthur in Tobago, Vincent discovered that working with exotic leathers required unique stitching ability and craftsmanship. In addition, the source of the leather needed to be identified and procured. As he met with his students in the spring of 2017, Professor Quan challenged them to identify all the sources of crocodile leather in the world. One of his students suggested South America and coincidentally was able to identify a supplier of caiman crocodile. In late fall 2017, Vincent visited the supplier and ordered one dozen crocodile skins for delivery to New York.
The skins were converted to several prototypes of handbags and small leather goods and eventually edited to one product for the launch – a seven pocket card case. The item was selected for its functionality and simple design aesthetic with fashion appeal. While digital payment methods were beginning to over-take traditional cash payments, there was still a need for an item to hold identification cards, credit cards, and a small amount of cash.
In Fall 2019, the Ted Arthur New York brand was successfully launched!