Blue Velvet: Navy, Almost Black

In winter, the easy choice is a black bag. Last November we offered another one: navy, so deep that at dusk it is easy to mistake for black. That is how the Blue Velvet capsule began.

A blue from the cinema

We made the collection under the spell of David Lynch’s visual language. The name refers to his film Blue Velvet, with Isabella Rossellini and Kyle MacLachlan. Creative director Pavlo Popko’s moodboard also held Mulholland Drive and Lost Highway: stories where ordinary life comes apart at the seams and shows its other side. Next to them were canvases by Yves Klein, with his deep, almost bottomless blue.

What all these works share is a mysterious blue. It became the lead character of the capsule.

Why suede

We carried that density of color onto suede, so one piece could hold a deep tone and a soft touch. The suede behaves like a character in a film: by day it looks deep but restrained, in the evening it gains drama and recalls a dark cinema before the lights go down.

In low light, navy suede reads almost black; in daylight it opens up into true blue. So the title of this story is no exaggeration.

The campaign by photographer Denys Manokha continues the film theme. Its frames recall Naomi Watts’s character in Mulholland Drive and Sherilyn Fenn in Twin Peaks.

The pieces

In Blue Velvet, familiar Poelle shapes sound different. At launch, Blue Velvet had the Carolyn and Object №03 totes, the Elza clutch and the Bell bag. The capsule now has four pieces in Navy Blue suede: Cecilie, the soft hobo Josefine, the Carolyn Medium tote and the Elza clutch. Navy suede also comes in pieces outside the capsule: the small Sophie on a slender strap and the Jane tote.

Cecilie holds a phone, a card case, keys, sunglasses and lipstick. Carolyn Medium also takes a tablet or a small laptop, a notebook and a cosmetic bag.

How to wear it

Navy behaves like a neutral: it sits calmly with gray, white, cream and brown, and makes a tonal look with denim. Next to gold-tone hardware it looks warm even in the colder months. A navy bag can also be the only color in an all-black look. It works with a white shirt, with denim and with black and white. By day it is a calm alternative to black; in the evening it becomes a frame of its own.

How to care for suede

Suede asks for little. Before you first take the bag out, treat it with a water-repellent suede spray. Brush it with a soft suede brush, dry only, in one direction. If the suede gets wet, let it dry on its own at room temperature, away from radiators and hair dryers, then brush it. Store the bag in its dust bag, filled with tissue paper. There is more in our care guide.

Every Blue Velvet bag is made by hand in our own atelier. See the whole capsule in the Blue Velvet collection.