About Lumi
HISTORY
Lumi Accessories was founded in New York City in 2000. The designer duo Sanna Kantola and Bruno Beaugrand were celebrating the Millennium in Europe when they found an old felt factory in Finland that could manufacture felt products in snow-white felt. Sanna and Bruno started designing simple white felt hats and bags with added leather handles and details on them. The designers decided to call the products LUMI, the Finnish word for snow.
Lumi products were quickly bought by New York downtown boutiques and by the Japanese distributor HP France who brought the brand to Japan in 2001. In 2003, Lumi Accessories opened a Branch in Paris, France and opened business for Europe. Lumi expanded to leather products and presented a new handbag which would become the Lumi core product and best-seller: the Supermarket Bag made in leather, with multiple handles, removable inside pockets and clean, timeless design. The line expanded to multiple collections made from leather and seasonal fabrics. Small leather goods and gloves were added into the selection.
As of today, Lumi is sold all over the world in over 25 countries in department stores, specialty stores and boutiques. Lumi Accessories operates both in Europe (Helsinki, Finland) and in USA (New York) with offices, showrooms and a flagship store.
CONCEPT
“We believe in consuming less, but better.”
The object of Lumi is to turn the ordinary to extraordinary, to add function, beauty and sparkle along the way into every product we design. Every Lumi design is made from carefully selected materials and custom-tanned leather and hardware details, in the color palette carefully chosen for each season. We believe that timeless design does not have to be boring or overly minimalist. Functional and lasting can also be feminine and playful.
DESIGNERS
SANNA KANTOLA
Sanna Kantola was born in Finland in 1972. She studied Fashion Design in Helsinki and in Paris and graduated from UIAH University of Art and Design in Helsinki with Master of Arts degree in 1998. She started her career in Finland as a Free-lance designer for a Finnish handbag brand Three Bags and designed cell phone cases to Nokia. She also worked as a Fashion editor and stylist for various Finnish magazines during 1990′s, and did internships in Paris for Promostyl and Louis Feraud.
After moving to New York City in 1998, she joined Ralph Lauren as the sole Handbag Designer for the brands Ralph, Polo Sport and Polo Jeans. Sanna is one of the Founders and Partners of Lumi Accessories and the Designer of Lumi.
BRUNO BEAUGRAND
Bruno Beaugrand was born in France in 1971. He studied Industrial Design in Champagne and in Paris and graduated with a Master of Arts degree from ENSAD Ecole Nationale Superieure des Arts Decoratifs in Paris in 1998.
He moved to New York City in 1998 to work as an Industrial Designer for company 4Sight, where he designed packaging for clients such as Pepsi, Unilever, L’Oreal and Johnson %26 Johnson. In 2000 he joined Tiffany to create the Tiffany Watch Collection which was launched world wide in 2002. Bruno is one of the Founders and Partners of Lumi Accessories and the Designer of Lumi’s Mhann line.
