LVMH's Luxury Ventures Fund Acquires Stake In Scandinavian Luggage Brand Db
The Norwegian brand becomes the first B Corp company that LVMH Luxury Ventures has in its investment portfolio.
LVMH’s Luxury Ventures Fund (LLV) has acquired a minority stake in cult-favorite luggage brand Db, marking its very first investment in Norway and second in Scandinavia – the news comes just weeks after LLV announced a similar investment in Swedish label Our Legacy.
Founded in 2012 by entrepreneur Truls Brataas and free-skier Jon Olsson, Db has built a feverish fanbase from its base in Oslo made up of adventurers, extreme sports enthusiasts and modern day nomads who have all been drawn in by the brand’s simple and incredibly practical bags. Db offers a clear and concise product range – one you might call “minimalist”, especially when compared to other luggage brands with similar target demographics – with backpacks, duffels and totes designed to flow seamlessly between city life and the next big adventure. It creates luggage with a modern, style conscious traveller in mind, bags made with a mix of metal and polycarbonate materials that lend themselves equally to the brand’s elevated aesthetic as to its reputation for creating long-lasting, durable products. Often, the company offers just a handful of color options in some of its models – rarely much more, sometimes even just one.
“This is the first-ever major funding round for Db,” Richard Collier, CEO of Db, tells Hypebeast. He added, “The funding will enable Db to accelerate its global development even further, with plans to increase brand awareness through strategic partnerships, double down on its core North European markets, as well as accelerate growth in the US and Asia.”
Indeed, while this is Db’s biggest investment to date, it also marks the first time that LVMH’s LLV has invested in a B Corp certified company. According to B Corp’s official website, “Certified B Corporations, or B Corps, are companies verified by B Lab to meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability.” In other words: B Corps often have a guiding sense of purpose that dictates and impacts both how they manage and how they deliver their top and bottom lines – a company morality that’s hard to find and easy to lose in today’s hyper-corporate world.
It begs the question, then, how will an investment like this from such a huge, key player in global retail impact a small Scandinavian brand like Db? And what can we expect to see from it going forward? Collier, the company’s CEO, told Hypebeast that “the fund embraces the Db B Corp status,” and added that “Db will continue its sustainability journey with the launch of a ‘repair and re-commerce’ service in Europe in Q2.” The brand has also stated that expanding its retail presence in select new markets will be a key driver to its global success, with regions currently lacking a physical Db store including the UK, Denmark, the Netherlands and the Baltics.
Stay tuned, it will be exciting to watch this next chapter in the brand’s journey and we will bring you developments as they happen.
