MAISON DE SABRÉ co-founder and creative director Omar Sabré talks about demystifying luxury and building a leather goods empire in six years…
Australian luxury house Maison de Sabré is redefining the world of high-end leather goods. Founded by brothers Omar and Zane Sabré, the Sydney-based company has built a cult following around the world for their high quality, but affordable accessories sold direct-to-consumer online. Remarkably, the brand was born just six years ago in 2017 and originally offered a single product – a leather phone case that could be customised with gold lettering. The brothers have since added far more to their repertoire, and now offer a full range of tech accessories, handbags, travel bags and backpacks. Omar is the creative force behind the company, while younger brother Zane handles more of the business side.
“To start as a case product and shift to bags and do it quite well is pretty phenomenal and there’s not a lot of brands out there who could do such a big transition and have that accepted by their customer,” Omar tells MAXIM. “We want to demystify and hack luxury and provide what we think is almost backdoor access to luxury – we believe everyone should be able to participate.”
While the leap from smartphone accessories to luxury leather goods may seem unlikely, some of the oldest and most prestigious luxury houses were built around technology. After all, Louis Vuitton founded his company in 1854 to make stackable trunks for voyages on the brand-new steam railways. Despite transcending the phone case maker moniker and expanding into a full suite of accessories, Sabré says tech remains at the heart of every MDS product. “It’s still centred around your phone, any bag you buy from us there will always be a unique placement for your phone,” says Omar. “We’ve been continuously levelling it up – our origin started in tech and we don’t see a slowdown in that at all. Each product solves a dedicated problem and has a dedicated need.” The brothers have also retained the customisation aspect of Maison de Sabré, allowing their customers to add personal initials to their favourite bag for a bespoke finish. Like any commercially minded creative, Omar closely follows trends coming out of fashion week to help inspire his minimalist designs. He was especially relieved to see how this season, houses like Gucci signalled a return to less flashy and more high-quality pieces. “There’s a big move right now to staples and everyday classics,” he says. “Logo mania has kind of died down and it’s back to timeless silhouettes and back to a focus on quality and material and this is something we’ve always believed in.”
Omar prefers to expand and refresh colourways to make his designs pop In lieu of large logos. “We’ve always believed there’s a lot of optimism in colour and accessories are a great way to carry that spark of joy with you as you go.” The latest addition to the brand’s collection has been leather duffel bags, the first product to crack the $500 mark. The creative director says he has been thrilled with the early customer feedback to the new travel bags.
Still, what many MDS shoppers love most about the brand is the idea of buying a luxury leather bag for far less than European luxury houses. While the brothers have steadily added more expensive items to their range, Omar says the company ethos demands that products remain accessible to all. He figures that his customers are willing to pay more for things like the duffel bag if they feel the product is worth their hard-earned money. “Consumers are becoming valued based – I don’t mean value as in a discount, I mean value as in true quality in what they’re paying for. We have really heated debates internally because we’re always trying to get it to the best price point for our customer.”
Part of the secret to the company’s rapid success has been how quickly the Sabrés have scaled their business into lucrative international markets like the United States and Japan. The brothers have also established a sophisticated network of suppliers and manufacturers that enables the company to take new designs to market in a matter of weeks. “The only way we’ve been able to do what we do right now is because we’ve set up agreements globally that allow us to have inventory of all these materials,” Omar explains. “That means if I want to launch a bag tomorrow, we’ve got everything reserved and transported to manufacturing within about three to four weeks.”
Working with suppliers and manufacturers across Europe and Asia, many of whom supply major European labels, has also given Omar a new perspective on the true cost of luxury bags. Mostly, the prices charged by European luxury houses are a daylight robbery. “The price point is so incredibly high and the cost to make those bags is so incredibly low,” he says. “My entire purpose is to find the suppliers for a lot of these luxury houses.” He goes on to list (off the record) the names of several major luxury labels who use the same nylon and leather suppliers as Maison de Sabré.
Omar also reveals that recent price increases across the luxury sector have little to do with inflation and more to do with maintaining exclusivity. “The reason why price points are increasing across brands is actually nothing to do with the economy but the fact more and more people are spending more and more money,” he reveals. “The higher tier brands are at risk of losing what makes them special as more and more people wear them so a lot of the price manipulation happening is just to maintain exclusivity. It’s really just status seekers at the end of the day who are willing to pay these exorbitant prices.”
Instead of relying on eye-watering prices to create intrigue, Omar takes pride in his self-described “maniacal” attention to detail and commitment to craftsmanship. “I literally count the stitches of each item as it comes off the production line,” he says. “Our tolerance for error was one millimetre but we changed that so now it is point two of a millimetre. If you’re not going to provide a solution product, they’ll shop somewhere else.”
Ever since those early phone cases, Maison de Sabré has been lauded for its luxurious leathers but lately Omar has felt challenged to look at new materials and possibilities. His latest target was nylon, a synthetic material used for Italian label Prada, mass-market sportswear brands and not much else. “Nylon is an area that hasn’t been done well. There’s a huge disparity in the market and no real luxury in the area,” he says. Designing a Nylon version of the new duffel bag, Omar fell in love with the material for its durability. “When you’ve got stuff happening all over the place you need (a bag) that’ll keep up with you.”
Rare for an Australian company, Maison de Sabré has no outside investment and by relying on e-commerce is unencumbered by things like commercial rents or retail distribution. Newly married and barely into his thirties, Omar believes he has laid the groundwork for a future legacy brand that could expand into homewares, licences and beyond. “We could add our touch to virtually anything,” Omar says. “Our entire mission is to create everyday luxury and elevate the everyday.”
For more info and shopping, check out maisondesabre.com
By REILLY SULLIVAN
For the full article grab the January 2024 issue of MAXIM Australia from newsagents and convenience locations. Subscribe here.
