Rae and David Liu, the brother-sister co-founders behind luxury leather accessories brand Leatherology, “had the entrepreneurial bug” from a young age — but they didn’t make the leap to business ownership right away.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Leatherology. David and Rae Liu.
Originally from Dallas, Texas, the siblings’ early work experiences took them to New York and elsewhere: Rae launched a career in the fashion industry while David developed expertise in advertising, marketing and sales.
In 2001, their father, David Liu, an entrepreneur himself, officially incorporated the vertically integrated ecommerce company DC International. With complementary professional skill sets under their belts, the siblings decided to start a direct-to-consumer brand under DC International’s umbrella: Leatherology.
“We own our manufacturing in China, and it’s really unique because it’s ours, wholly owned, and only produces for [our brands],” David says. “So that makes us end-to-end. Leatherology is built on top of that. [Entrepreneurship] runs in our blood, and it’s brought us to where we are today.”
Rae’s work in the accessories space sparked her initial vision for the brand. She had a deep understanding of leather products and how the industry worked, but the cost of quality goods remained a barrier for many consumers, including herself.
“I found myself in my 20s, working long hours in the fashion industry, and realizing that I could never afford the bags that I was working on,” Rae recalls. “Price point and quality were really important to me. I thought that there [had to be] a better way.”
Image Credit: Courtesy of Leatherology
Rae wanted Leatherology to provide high-quality, timeless leather designs at a reasonable price, directly to consumers, and she asked David if he could use his advertising background to help. Of course, David agreed. The duo launched the business in 2008.
In the years since, Leatherology has grown into an 8-figure brand, even amid supply chain volatility and economic uncertainty.
Entrepreneur sat down with Rae and David to learn more about their successful growth strategies — and what’s next for the brand.
1. Self-fund and own the process
Leatherology has been self-funded from day one; without outside investment, the founders can always make decisions that are in the business’s best interest.
”We talk about it [like] we are building the house we want to live in, not the house that we’re going to flip and then try to sell for the most amount of money,” Rae explains. “It means that we make strategic decisions and invest very heavily in things that you wouldn’t if you were looking for an exit.”
In the founders’ view, smart growth is “slow and steady“— and translates to “absolute freedom.”
”We pride ourselves on maintaining a profitable business,” David adds, “one that can weather ups and downs over the years. We’ve been able to turn a profit every year, and it allows us to really think about the business decisions that are going to be good for our longevity.”
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2. Lean into quality and what sets the product apart
From the very beginning, the founders prioritized quality craftsmanship and monogrammed personalization in Leatherology’s products.
The brand first utilized blind stamping, where initials are pressed into the material, then introduced foil to its designs, expanding to include different colors and font options.
“We’ve been doing hand painting for years,” Rae says. “A lot of people in the space do digitally printed personalization. You usually only see the luxury houses still doing hand painting, but we’ve kind of stuck to our guns — [and to] this idea of craft. So that’s what we’re still doing. We have artisans who paint each letter, and we’re actually about to expand that assortment with more fonts and letter sizes for the first time in a while.”
The vertical integration model makes that attention to detail and level of personalization possible, the founders say. Leatherology is also about to launch an option for custom artworks, allowing people to upload their own designs — for example, a handwritten note — to feature on the products.
Related: How ‘V-Commerce’ Could Be the Next Big Trend for Startups
Image Credit: Courtesy of Leatherology
3. Don’t underestimate the value of diversified marketing
Leatherology didn’t rely on social media for its growth in the early days; instead, the founders laid the foundation for the brand, then diversified its marketing channels.
The brand has a “robust” B2B business, working with Fortune 500 companies and small businesses alike to put their logos on products that they gift to clients and employees.
“ A lot of our consumers who’ve been with us for years, their first time hearing about Leatherology was actually [when] receiving it as a gift,” David says. “That has really yielded [growth from] word of mouth, which is the most important and cheapest form of marketing you can find. So we are leaning into gift-giving. We’re doubling down on that as we go into this holiday season, creating more giftable, curated moments.”
David even recalls one time when he met with a client while at Google and mentioned his family’s brand: A woman pulled out her own Leatherology bag, said she’d received it as a gift and had been giving one to everyone — a perfect example of that “snowball effect.”
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Now, as the brand continues to grow, Rae and David are excited to pursue Leatherology’s international expansion and double down on its commitment to innovation and customization.
“ I really want to own the personalization space,” Rae says. “I want to become known as the go-to, that we’re doing things better than others in a way that is more accessible. We live in a very consumerist society, and I obviously would love for people to buy better and consume better and not buy the cheap stuff, but buy something that’s going to last longer from us.”
Image Credit: Courtesy of Leatherology
What’s more, the founders say that operating as a family business gives them a distinct advantage, especially as their long-term goals and interests have always aligned.
“It’s funny, our father says, ‘You guys can argue about anything but don’t ever fight about money,'” David says, “[and] that’s something we just never argue about. We want to build this company, and we have the same drive and motivation to do so. As Rae said, we want to build this house. Ultimately, having that long-term alignment is hard to replicate with someone who isn’t your own sister.”
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