Over the past few years, several luggage brands have tried to establish themselves as “different,” but perhaps none has stood out quite as much as Monos, the Vancouver-based luggage company.
Founded in 2018 by co-founder and CEO Victor Tam—as well as Hubert Chan and Daniel Shin—the retailer started off completely “bootstrapped” with founder money and no outside investment, Tam told Retail Brew.
However, in 2022, Monos notched 300% growth and a $30 million series B funding round which has allowed the brand to go beyond traditional travel bags and luggage and expand its own clothing line called “Everywear” with a new capsule collection called Algarve, according to the brand.
With a range of linen essentials, the gender-neutral and size-inclusive collection offers everything from shorts and shirts to shirt dresses, all made in Canada. The brand is also stepping into physical retail with its first brick-and-mortar location in Vancouver, which opened in July, and other locations planned in the US.
But one of Monos’s biggest achievements to date has been how it has shaken up the DTC luggage world and even offered some serious competition to Away.
Tam shared his thoughts on comparisons to the DTC darling, the new clothing line, and the brand’s future.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
On Algarve
When we first started the brand, luggage was really obviously a hero core product of ours, but we really saw a gap in the travel space to create a brand that is truly travel and lifestyle related. We just saw the older companies…were really unmotivated and uninspired to cater to the future consumers in the travel space.
And we see ourselves as not just designers of bags and luggage—we are true design lovers. We love playing with materiality and functions of a product. It just made sense for us. [While] traveling, oftentimes, a lot of us are looking for comfort, something that’s easy and also looks good. In the Everywear line, as well as the upcoming line, it’s something that we feel you can go from plane to your resort to or be going and still look great and feel great.
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On what makes Monos stand out
It is really [about] the intent of how the company was built. A brand like Away—they did an incredibly amazing job in coming to market and redefining how people looked at luggage, really aspirational. And, to be honest, it just really, after you kind of peel back the layers, it does, for us at least, feel like a very Instagrammable brand, right?…Before starting Monos, I had owned Rove Concepts. And I come from a manufacturing background, so I have a pretty good idea of when things are done in a way that’s a shortcut. Oftentimes, brands would go to the factory, choose the part off the shelf, and because it’s just a lot faster and cheaper when you do that, these are parts that are used in a bunch of different brands in the luggage space, you essentially just Frankenstein a luggage together and, put a logo and put some pretty colors on, and launch.
We built the entire suitcase from scratch—from the handle to wheels to the interior to really being thoughtful on the materiality and what we wanted to use and how the customer would interact with the product.
On what’s next for the company
At Monos, we’re trying to build the future of travel. We want to be a future authoritative brand in the luggage and travel space, truly generational. We want to be in the ranks of LVMH and some of these 100-plus-year-old brands that have been around.
Many DTC brands that have started in the last 10 years, their goal is really a good financial outcome for a lot of the investors. A lot of times, the founders are no longer founders after certain rounds have been raised. So, you have a brand that doesn’t have the drive or competitiveness to really want to compete or exist further than to satisfy future investors or whether they’re public or whatnot. We take a very long-term view. We want to be a brand built to financially endure many cycles, whether it’s a very great economy to a potential recession that we are currently in.