Vendula celebrates 21 years of creating magical vegan handbags

Vendula London, whose products have the Vegetarian Society Approved vegan accreditation, were championing vegan handbags long before they were popular on the high street. They set out on a mission to show that vegan bags and accessories can be fun, stunning and cruelty-free… and they did it!

With creative themes ranging from The Old Sweet Shop to The Botanist and The Candy Floss Cart, Vendula’s striking designs offer bags that represent their clients’ (affectionately called Vendulettes!) personalities. And these bags mean something to them as well. They aim to bring a smile to faces and add a bit of magic to people’s days.

With an outstanding design team creating their exciting and vibrant collections, Vendula are best known for their gorgeous shopfront-style bags. They are inspired by animals, by food, by Shakespeare, by occasions such as Halloween, Christmas, holidays… (psst…keep an eye on them if you are getting married this year!)

During the pandemic, Vendula completely changed their business model from being a wholesale and retail brand to a growing and expanding online brand. This turned out to be a most exciting moment for Vendula.

Like every business, they have had challenges, especially during lockdown when shipping costs increased dramatically, and they wanted to avoid passing this cost to their customers. However, as a dedicated – albeit small – team, they worked together to overcome challenges and grow the business.

Just look at all the awards they’ve won: Most Innovative Vegan Handbag Brand 2021 in the Global Vegan Awards from LUXlife Magazine; Most Innovative Novelty Handbag Retailer 2022 in the UK Enterprise Awards from SME News; Innovative Vegan Accessory Brand of the Year 2022 – UK in the Global Vegan Awards from LUXlife Magazine; Novelty Handbag Retailer of the Year 2023 in the UK Enterprise Awards from SME News; Most Innovative Vegan Accessory Brand 2023 – UK in the Global Vegan Awards from LUXlife Magazine.

Vendula products have had the Vegetarian Society Approved vegan accreditation since the summer of 2018. They wanted a recognisable accreditation to let people know Vendula London is a brand that can be trusted and will match their ethics.

At that time Vendula saw the Vegetarian Society was accrediting vegan food. With shared vegan motivations and ethics, the company knew they had to be accredited with an institution that was already speaking to customers aligned with their values. They now use the Vegetarian Society Approved vegan trademark alongside their products on their website, social media, and their product swing tags.

Vendula felt the process of accreditation was smooth, as they have worked with their factory and suppliers for many years. This way, after testing raw materials, they were very confident they would be accredited by the Vegetarian Society.

“Our customers are happy that our products are accredited by the Vegetarian Society. They first fall in love with our brand and designs, but the vegan accreditation is the cherry on the cake. It is mentioned by our fans on social channels on a regular basis,” Vendula told us.

For anyone seeking accreditation for their products, Vendula suggests the product(s) are tested before starting the accreditation process. They said it is important to begin with the evidence ready to go. This will make the whole process smoother. The Vegetarian Society can help with suggesting laboratories to assist with this.

Vendula connect with their customers through social media, newsletters and through brilliant competitions. Their customers feel a special connection with their bags and often post images of the collections they have built up over many years. Vendula ran a competition last year and were overwhelmed by the responses.

“We love our Vendulettes and can’t thank them enough for spreading the Vendula London message… fun and, of course, all vegan!