Shay Mitchell’s travel and lifestyle brand Béis has redesigned and is releasing the newest iteration of its core products, the brand revealed Tuesday.
After releasing collaborations, seasonal capsules and activations, the brand is now focusing on refreshing its core collection. The renovation of Béis is led by the brand’s Weekender bag — which has sold more than 2 million units since its launch in 2018 and has seen an average of 70 percent growth. The brand also reported being a $250 million business.
Beyond the Weekender bag — which has been a fundamental part of the brand’s assortment since its launch — Béis has revamped its main core collection of the Weekender and Mini Weekender, Roller suite, Travel backpack and key packing accessories.
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For the full product unveiling, the brand is hosting a three-day pop-up in Manhattan’s NoHo at 312 Broadway from Thursday until Saturday. Guests can shop the new collection, build new travel sets and get complimentary embroidery on new bags. They can also trade in their pre-loved Béis Weekender, Mini Weekender or Backpack for 20 percent off a new purchase in-store.
The immersive pop-up will showcase the collection’s original designs up to the newest versions with a hands-on exhibit showcasing the years of testing, refinement and product performance. Programming includes events hosted with Susan Alexandra, Nicole McLaughlin and Martine Ali.
In an exclusive interview with WWD, Liz Money, senior vice president of brand and creative at Béis, said the revamp was all about “going back to the products that built Béis” while ensuring that “they still work the way [its] customers travel today.”
“We’ve spent the last few years watching closely how people actually use these products,” Money said. “How they pack, how they pair pieces together, where they want more comfort, more clarity, more ease. We never wanted to change what people love about Béis, just strengthen the foundation.”
The brand did a full redesign of the product’s construction, refreshed its colorways and its product education to showcase to customers what changed and why they made the changes. The original products have already been phased out or have sold out online.
The customer feedback Béis received came from social media platforms such as TikTok, focus groups and its customer service teams. Specifically, for the Weekender, customers noted the lack of strap comfort, durability, zippers, wire frame eating into packable space, no access to the bottom compartment, requesting a security feature and the shoulder pad not being comfortable when the bag was fully packed.
Money explained that the new Weekender design sees frame-free openings, reinforced padded straps, internal rollback access to the bottom compartment, locking zippers and updated material build.
To address the evolving needs of modern travelers, Money said that travel has become more of a fluid sector. Béis consumers use their products for weekend trips, work travel, family travel, road trips, and longer vacations alongside everyday needs — which meant that “the core assortment [had] to hold up across all of it.”
“For us, it comes down to making travel feel more intuitive, helping customers move through the process more easily, whether they’re packing at home, getting through the airport, organizing on the road or building out their set over time,” said Money.
Viewing the updated pieces as part of a full travel system and not individual bags, the company looked at how they could stack, pack, organize and pair together — across its rollers and backpacks to weekenders, dopp kits and packing cubes.
And when it comes to product innovation, Money pointed out the latest pieces weren’t about “adding more for the sake of more.” Removing friction and creating the product experience to be smarter, clearer and more useful was the main focus. Thus, the brand aimed to modernize and update the core assortment of products while keeping functionality and the recognizable design of the brand.
Moreover, the brand’s new colorways of Olive, Atlas Pink and Beige alongside classic colors of Black and Maple were created to feel more cohesive and wearable. Other fan-favorite styles of the Ultimate Diaper Backpack, Ultimate Travel Duffle, Travel Tote, individual luggage tags, and Expandable Crossbody Charm will also be relaunched in refreshed core colorways.
“We think a lot about how our products live together, especially since customers often build their Béis collection over time. These colorways were chosen with care, whether someone’s buying one piece or building a full travel set. It’s a good marker of where the brand is headed visually: still accessible, still fun, but with a cleaner point of view,” said Money.
Adeela Hussain-Johnson, chief executive officer and founding member of Béis, told WWD that the relaunch is an example of the brand scaling what continues to resonate with its consumers. And given that these products help build up the business and drive loyalty, the company used its customer feedback to keep its portfolio strong, as a brand and products — which will help Béis as it continues to grow.
She explained that growth for Béis stems from investment in innovation to continue to focus on its products and deepen core categories while it expands into adjacent categories and expands its distribution.
“As Béis scales, we’re doubling down on what we’ve always done best: product design, community and marketing,” said Hussain-Johnson. “It’s about scaling what already works; doing more of what [the consumer] expects from us, in a bigger way and with greater reach, so we can connect with even more people while staying true to what made the brand resonate in the first place.”
Looking ahead, Hussain-Johnson said the brand continues to focus on its core idea of “on-the-go products that didn’t force [consumers] to choose between performance and style.” Since 2018, the brand has gone on to expand into totes, baby, pets, sports and more. The brand is also focused on showing up where the consumer already is by focusing on new retail partners, markets and formats.
“What’s really changed is the scale we’re operating at. Looking ahead, it’s about continuing to expand the world of Béis — new markets, new retail, new experiences, new categories, while staying close to the thing that got us here: the everyday travel moments people connected with from day one,” the CEO said.
The renovated Béis core collection will be available for purchase on Thursday at beistravel.com
