Veronica Beard, the contemporary apparel firm appropriately named after two highly fashionable sisters-in-law, has been on the fast track since launching in 2010.
The company is headed by Veronica Swanson Beard and Veronica Miele Beard, who not only share the same first and last names but also an office at 26 West 17th Street in New York.
They have tapped into the high end of the contemporary market and have struck a chord with women who appreciate their polished, modern and versatile sportswear and accessories. The executives have been expanding categories and aggressively growing the brand on the domestic and international fronts, operating 45 freestanding stores and a robust wholesale business. According to market sources, the brand is approaching $400 million in annual revenues.
For its ongoing growth, Veronica Beard is being awarded the 2025 WWD Honor for Company of the Year, Private.
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One of the keys to their success is knowing what their customers desire, and meeting their wardrobe needs for all aspects of their lives — from the boardroom to weekends to date night, school pickup, or work from home.
In an interview, Swanson Beard said they started because they were not only sisters-in-laws, “but we were friends and had this mutual adoration and love of fashion and all products. We were like product junkies about anything. It could be ready-to-wear, bags, makeup.”
When they began, they were both married, living downtown in New York and having children.
“The idea of this jacket was born, and this jacket and dickey were made for men and not women. And we just thought, ‘every woman needs to try this thing. It will elevate an outfit, no matter what she’s wearing.’ It was like the ‘Wonder Woman’ cape. You put it on and you slay the dragon,’” said Miele Beard.
“And I think any of the great brands that you look back on started with a signature piece,” added Swanson Beard.
The dickey took off, as did their company.
The two women began their lives on opposite coasts: Miele Beard grew up in North Caldwell, N.J., raised by a single mother, while Swanson Beard was raised in California as an heir to the Swanson frozen-food fortune. Swanson Beard graduated from Tulane University and attended Parsons School of Design and worked for Alberta Ferretti at Aeffe and Narciso Rodriguez and was a buyer for Marissa Collections. (At Aeffe she met Stephanie Unwin, who became president of Beard’s company three years after it was launched).
Miele Beard graduated from Franklin & Marshall College and worked in sales and trading at multiple investment banks on Wall Street and did a stint in ad sales at Vogue before becoming a partner and chief operating officer at technology hedge fund Coatue.
The two met at a wedding and became sisters-in-law when they married brothers.
Eventually, Miele Beard left Wall Street (after she had the third of her eventual five children) and the two of them (Swanson Beard now has three children) decided to go into business together.
Swanson Beard noted that the entire first collection used all remnant fabrics from companies such as Ralph Lauren and Loro Piana. “We were climbing up ladders, and we were in New Jersey warehouses getting bolts of fabric, deadstock really.”
The dickeys weren’t remnant. The knitwear was made in China, and the jackets were manufactured in New York.
In developing the wholesale business, Swanson Beard noted that you’re completely defined by the real estate. Originally the company started on the designer floor. “We had 100 percent sell-through our first season at Saks. It was insane,” said Swanson Beard. “The difference between the foot traffic on that [designer] floor and the foot traffic on the contemporary floor was like double.”
So three years later, they decided to move to the contemporary floor.
“Year three was a really big year for us. We took on our minority investors [Andrew Rosen, Lew Frankfort, John Howard, and Khajak Keledjian]; we hired staff, and we reduced our prices by 30 percent to sit on the contemporary floor. That was a big risk,” said Swanson Beard.
Miele Beard said their product stood out because it didn’t look like other brands. It was very elevated for the contemporary space. “It was bespoke. You had those dickeys sticking out of the jackets at the time. We had them all merchandised and styled. And at that point we were a full collection.” They were making suiting, dresses, wovens and knitwear.
The women design for people like themselves who are busy with their careers, raising children, and other pursuits. They want to look chic and pulled together without looking like they tried too hard.
“Our customer is this multihyphenate. She’s the doer, the maker, the mover, the shaker. She is like the CEO of her world. And she has so much going on. She loves fashion, but she’s not a slave to fashion,” said Swanson Beard. “She’s a very educated, affluent customer who’s extremely loyal and discerning.”
The company also became involved in the community — hosting events for the various charitable causes they support. Ten years ago, they started VB Gives Back and they launched it with Peter Frates and ALS, which has become their quarterly partner.
Asked how they work together and divvy up the workload, Swanson Beard said, “We do a lot together, and we obviously share an office.” Miele Beard added that they design everything together.
Swanson Beard said they have a big design team, “but I would say I deal more with our retail, with our marketing, more of like brand, conceptual stuff. We decide on everything together.”
Miele Beard added, “I’m a hawk on product, I think the product is super important. I love studying the data on the product too. Eighty-five percent of our customers work. Princess Kate [Middleton] announced that she was finished with her [cancer] treatment in a Veronica Beard dress.”
The Beards participated in the Vogue Fashion Fund in 2013 and were among the 10 finalists. That year, Public School won. This summer, Veronica Beard hosted four students as part of a scholarship fund with the CFDA who worked with the design team and cross-functionally in wovens, knitwear, denim and soft goods.
Except for a joint venture with Caleres for footwear, all their products are done in-house, such as handbags. “Our shoe business is on fire,” said Swanson Beard. Miele Beard added that their handbag business is currently their biggest growth vehicle.
Asked which categories they still want to get into, Swanson Beard said, “There’s so many, that’s a problem. We launched jewelry. We do swimwear. An opportunity is athleisure, not workout necessarily but more of that off-duty situation.”
At present they have 45 freestanding stores. They opened two stores this month, in Winnetka, Ill., and Palo Alto, Calif. “We’re hoping for Paris in the spring,” said Miele Beard.
The stores are generally around 1,800 square feet. The company prefers to open on main streets rather than malls. “The way that our community is and the way that our stores operate, they’re like community hubs for our customers. So much of our VB Gives Back, our shopper causes, all of our events that happen in-store, we do collaborations with brands, we host young designers and community gatherings. A main street store just works better for that than customers coming to a mall,” said Swanson Beard.
Their top-five best-performing stores are currently Madison Avenue in Manhattan; Dallas; Naples, Fla.; Beverly Hills, and Sloane Square in London. In addition to Paris, they like Madrid and Munich for further retail expansion.
Swanson Beard said every store is designed individually. “Even the fixturing is all individual to the stores. They’re all found items and beautiful fabrics from amazing fabric houses. They’re really supposed to feel like unique homes in each of these cities,” she said.
As president, Unwin is fully operating the business “and allows us to really focus on design and brand and product. We have to be on the road non-stop selling the dream,” said Swanson Beard.
