One of the hottest retail backpack brands in the world is coming to the promotional products industry for the first time – and Leed’s (asi/66887) will be the exclusive provider.

Leed’s, a subsidiary of Top 40 promotional product supplier Polyconcept North America (asi/78897), said Monday that it has entered into a strategic partnership to bring Herschel Supply Co. backpacks, duffels and accessories to the ad specialty space.

The Little America Backpack has Herschel’s signature combination of vintage look and feel combined with modern function.

“Since it launched 10 years ago, Herschel has been at the top of everyone’s shopping list, and has become one of the hottest brands in retail,” said AJ Dickson, global category director for bags at PCNA. “We always look for purposeful collaborations, and with the team at Herschel, we found a mutual trust and an aligned appreciation for design. We also listened to what our clients were asking for and this partnership really hits our customer base.”

Reiterating that Herschel has been among the most requested bands in the promo channel in recent years, Leed’s emphasized that it will be the sole supplier of decorated Herschel products worldwide.

“We pride ourselves on a fine regard for detail,” said Bryan Anderson, director of sales and business development at Herschel. “Leed’s was the only partner in the promo channel that offered the decorating expertise and market-leading customer service that our customers expect from the Herschel experience. We are excited to offer co-branding opportunities on our most popular styles.”

Leed’s offers eight of Herschel’s most popular styles, including the Heritage Backpack.

Leed’s said it’s offering an array of the most popular Herschel bag styles, which are characterized by a vintage look and feel combined with modern function. The Leed’s Herschel collection includes eight styles in a variety of colors, such as the Heritage (2009-03) and Little America (2009-01) backpacks, the Fifteen Hip Pack (2009-10) and the Sutton Mid-Volume Duffel (2009-09). All are available now on the Leed’s website.

“We are thrilled that Herschel selected us as their exclusive decorating partner,” said Liz Haesler, PCNA’s chief merchandising officer. “In terms of style and design, Herschel is unmatched. This partnership allows our distributors to provide their customers with high-quality, trend-setting bags from one of the best retail brands in the world.”

Founded in 2009 by brothers Jamie and Lyndon Cormack, Vancouver-based Herschel Supply Co. uses classic silhouettes as its blueprint for creating stylish, high-quality backpacks, luggage, travel accessories and more, executives said. Today, Herschel products are sold in 94 countries, with more than 10,000 retailers worldwide. The company, which is named after the small town in which three generations of the Cormack brothers’ family was raised, employs about 200 people across offices in Vancouver, New York, Los Angeles, Shanghai, and Hong Kong.

Boasting an in-house design team and dozens of retail brands, Leed’s has a range of promotional products that includes everything from pens and drinkware, to bags and mobile tech. With reported 2018 North American promotional product revenue of $654.1 million, Leed’s parent company PCNA ranks fourth on Counselor’s latest list of the largest suppliers in the industry. PCNA’s five-year average annual growth rate is 6.8%.

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