Lou Harvey: Defying conventional wisdom by successfully exporting non-leather bags to Japan (and many other places)

Lou Harvey…Exporting is now the only way to go.

Durban, KZN, SA – Lou Harvey – the company – is, surely, the only business in South Africa’s CTFL exporting community which has had its products SOUND tested. And Lou Harvey – the person – is, surely, alone is receiving 800 WhatsApp messages in 1 day from the same person. You would be correct if you guessed that the sound testing and the busy WhatsApp Messager were linked, and yes, she finds them very trying.

However, “exporting is the only way to go at the moment”, she said, and it now accounts for around 60% of her sales, by value – a very high percentage compared to most SA CTFL exporters.

Her business is making laminate travel goods and bags, which is also contrary to South Africa’s perceived strengths.

Her forte is design, and the extensive range on her website – from beach bags to nappy bags, with a host of other mainly outdoor specific products – is distinct from similar products in its floral-, and animal prints and other bright colours.

So much so that it was South Africans abroad who gave her her first export business.
“Initially, when we were just a tiny little brand, we got orders by word of mouth from people who saw our products overseas, then managed to track us down.”

Beach bag tote

To develop that business, she joined SAFLEC, “which isn’t focused on the sorts of products I make, but it’s a great organisation, run by very passionate people who are full of great information”.

“We’ve done lots of shows with them,” she said, “but the biggest break was in Las Vegas in 2018.
“It was at the end of a day, and I was feeling really grumpy, when this couple came onto the stand. Their card said they were from Osaka, and I’d been told that if you could get into Japan, you had it made. Well, that was the start of quite a journey.

“They’re agents, and they represent Louis Vuitton, and Chanel – and me.

“They rejected everything we sent. They complained about everything. Then one day I got this video from one of them twisting and squeezing one of my bags, and complaining that it didn’t SOUND right. What she meant was it didn’t sound like leather.
“We’ve been working with them for 5 years, and Japan is everything that I was told it would be. Painful, picky, completely unreasonable, and fantastic. You must do everything absolutely correctly, and you have to have your costings right.”

She also has agents in Dubai and Australia and New Zealand, and would like to develop markets in Europe. “Each country there has different needs and tastes,” she said. “I need a good wholesaler there.”

The Lou Harvey range is distinctive through varied functional designs and vibrant colours.

Aqua nappy bag

Aqua box pencil case

Multi pack bag

Long Tom cooler

She sees exports as the future of her business, offering “big, easy orders – except for Japan”.

Her local market has shrunk. “Before covid, we used to do a lot of corporate work, which has gone, and we’ve closed our shops. We do, however, have a big contract with Edgars which we’re rolling out now.”

Her company started in July 21 years ago, making cushions for chains, and her first employee is still with her.
“I’ve tried other fabrics, but my customers always go back to the laminates.
“I’ve also tried leather, and I’d like to make an upmarket leather range, but I think it will have to be under a different brand. Something for my old age, perhaps.”