Brands Briefing: Shoulder bags and TikTok Shop are powering Vera Bradley’s latest turnaround
This is the latest installment of the Brands Briefing, a weekly Modern Retail+ column about the growth strategies of modern brands. More from the series →
Vera Bradley says its second turnaround plan in two years is finally moving the needle.
This summer, the 44-year-old accessories brand reported its first quarterly revenue growth in nearly five years. The success stems from efforts tied to “Project Sunshine,” a 2025 plan to reverse slumping sales, restore profitability and better resonate with young shoppers. As part of “Project Sunshine,” Vera Bradley has returned to its roots as a whimsical, colorful accessories company. It has also zeroed in on shoulder bags, developed personalized bag charms, and invested in social and digital channels such as TikTok and Instagram.
This isn’t Vera Bradley’s first attempt at a comeback. In 2024, Vera Bradley introduced a modernization strategy called “Project Restoration” that involved adding more silhouettes, embracing different materials, and redoing the brand’s logo and store look. But the scheme failed to generate sales momentum and drew backlash from longtime shoppers who felt the brand was deviating too much from its signature florals and prints. Vera Bradley soon modified the strategy and appointed a new leadership team.
“We lost track of what made Vera Bradley special and unique and what customers loved about us,” Ian Bickley, the company’s CEO, said in March. He added, “We became indistinguishable from other brands and overreliant on promotions. … Our No. 1 focus has been on improving the product.” By September, the company had reported its second consecutive quarter of overall revenue growth, totaling $71.6 million, up 1.1% year over year.
Melinda Paraie, who became Vera Bradley’s chief brand officer at the end of 2025, told Modern Retail that “Project Sunshine” has been about “sharpening the brand” for today’s consumers. “We’ve gone back to our DNA and where we see strength and what made us unique, which is joyful optimism [and] our colors and prints,” Paraie said.
Other parts of “Project Sunshine,” as laid out in a March earnings call, include refining the company’s go-to-market strategy, creating a digital-first ecosystem, reinventing its outlet channel and conducting “organizational alignment.” In December, Mark Dely, the brand’s chief administrative and legal officer at the time, described “Project Sunshine” as “building from our DNA, not rebranding.”
During “Project Restoration,” Vera Bradley leaned into solids and leather. Today, it has returned to cotton and cheerful patterns to “give the customer comfort and a connection with the brand,” Paraie said. It has also added in velvet, corduroy, beading and ruffles to appeal to younger consumers. Smaller bags remain a large focus because young people aren’t carrying as much. “Everything is on your phone,” Paraie said. “Shoulder bags are a key silhouette for them.”
Many teens and twenty-somethings are also opting for vintage aesthetics as they look to stand out from peers and combat fast fashion. Some, as Pacsun reported in its recent Youth Report, are even feeling a wave of “anemoia,” or a longing for a past they never lived. Vera Bradley is directly tapping into this sentiment; in September, it released a Remix Collection of bags drawing from its archives. “This younger generation is really inspired by our vintage prints and smaller ditsy patterns and muted patterns,” Paraie said.
Vera Bradley is increasingly leaning into trends like personalization and customization, as well. In March, its design team revisited the Original 100 Handbag and created a bespoke collection of 50 bags that sold out in under three minutes. This holiday season, the brand is hyping up bag charms in designs like bears, cookies and mini totes, finding them to be a major growth category. It has started holding bag personalization days, so customers can add on patches and monogrammed initials.
“She just loves the one-of-a-kind piece,” Paraie said. “That is something we know has resonated from the very beginning. When you got a bag, it was your print, and you collected everything in your print. … Even today, the idea of self-expression is something that customers care about.”
Jessica Ramírez, co-founder and managing director of the retail advisory firm The Consumer Collective, said Vera Bradley is “tapping into the right trends” for young shoppers. Ramírez recently visited a mall in Texas and surveyed teenagers about their shopping habits. “They all had bag charms and little shoulder bags,” she said. What’s more, Ramírez attended trade shows earlier this year and found that everything is about “color and patterns,” both of which are key to Vera Bradley’s philosophy. “I think people are happy to mismatch,” Ramírez said.
There’s more transformation afoot at Vera Bradley. On the marketing and merchandising side, the brand is working to be digital-first, building more retail partnerships, improving go-to-market processes, and defining its presence on social platforms like TikTok and Instagram. Vera Bradley is also reaching out to more influencers, encouraging user-generated content, and working to position its quilted products at the forefront of TikTok trends like “grandmacore” and “coastal grandma.”
As of Oct. 26, Vera Bradley had sold more than 24,000 units on TikTok Shop. “We’re really starting to make a more concerted effort on what we are giving to creators and how we give them briefs and share with them what we really want them to focus on,” Paraie said. “It’s important that we have the right bags for the right channels.”
Still, the in-store experience remains crucial to Vera Bradley. The company operates its own stores and outlets and has partnerships with Nordstrom and other retailers. In July, Vera Bradley hosted Little Words Project in its Disney Springs store for a charms event. This summer, to celebrate its new strawberry print, it held a “Strawberry Girl Summer” activation in stores and gave out food and beverages.
Ultimately, Vera Bradley is seeing that its latest turnaround efforts are appealing to longtime brand fans and the next generation, Paraie said. “Our objective going forward is really to play into the nostalgia and brand truths that we know resonate with our customers, but [also] to make it relevant today through new prints and patterns and styles.”
What I’m reading
- DoorDash is in advanced talks to acquire Instacart. (WSJ)
- Banana Republic debuted a short-form video series on TikTok. (Retail Dive)
- Marc Jacobs is expanding its presence in China. (WWD)
What we’ve covered
- QVC is building a flywheel across TikTok and TV ahead of the holidays.
- Walmart Connect is pitching brands directly as it pushes lift studies ahead of holiday ad deals.
- PepsiCo is betting on refrigerated fresh foods like gazpacho and guacamole to drive growth.