The colorful genius of Vera Bradley

Aleycia Wills of St. Petersburg loves her Vera Bradley. The designs appeal to a vast age range.

Katelyn Ashton choses Betsy.

Preteens go gaga over Vera Bradley. So do their moms. And their grandmothers, too. We’ve seen it at The Bronze Lady at John’s Pass but it is a phenomenon throughout the world of Vera Bradley.

Two recent local customers are good examples. Aleycia Wills of St. Petersburg just loves the colors of Vera Bradley. Katelyn Ashton, also of St. Petersburg knows exactly what she likes. Katelyn recently picked out the Betsy design in Night and Day. The designs of Vera Bradley have become must-haves for girls of all ages.

For a business that started in a garage in Fort Wayne, Indiana, 29 years ago, this colorful homage to femininity has come a long way. Back in 1982, founders Barbara Bradley Baekgaard and Patricia R. Miller were on vacation. While waiting for a flight at the Atlanta airport they noticed that most luggage was unfeminine looking.

They decided to do something about that. With a borrowed $250, they launched the company in two weeks with three products: a handbag, a sports bag and a duffel bag. Today the brand offers a dizzying array of products, including quilted cotton travel duffels, totes, purses, wallets, eyeglass and sunglass cases, cosmetic cases and jewelry cases. Also carrying the Vera Bradley brand are umbrellas, napkins, placemats, rolling luggage, diaper bags, tableware, rugs, accessories and stationery.

Click photos to enlarge.

And they come in a dizzying array of colors and patterns. New patterns are released four times a year: spring, summer, fall and winter. The summer colors are out now and we have them. You can see them in the photo at right. New for summer are: Top: Viva La Vera and Water Color. Bottom: English Meadow, Deco Daisy.

And the designs appeal to a vast age range. "If a high school girl is carrying something, she doesn't want to carry something her mother is carrying or, God knows, what her grandmother is carrying," Baekgaard told the Associated Press for an article. "(Teenagers) say it with pride. 'This is my pattern. This is the pattern my mother is carrying.' There are stages in their lives where they don't want to carry what you're carrying. This is the exception."

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