The luxury slowdown is an on-going conversation that has taken over the most part of 2025. Economic turbulence, inflation, and market volatility have shaped consumer behavior especially when it comes to buying high ticket items like luxury handbags. But more than that, this shift in spending indicates that the aspirational luxury customer is no longer drawn to loud logos and ubiquitous design codes. They are now more interested in products that are thoughtfully designed, impeccably crafted, and seasonless. Real emotional connection, authentic story telling, and transparency in the supply chain have also become factors that drive interest and sales.
This new luxury mindset has served as tailwind for independent, emerging brands like Toteme, Polène, ATP Atelier, Neous, Manu Atelier, Ganni, and Staud, just to name a few. The journey of these labels is a study navigating the today’s luxury market sans the backing of large conglomerates.
Ukrainian-based fashion label, Poelle, presents itself in the light of a “new generation of luxury handbags and accessories.” It was founded in 2017 by creative director Pavlo Popko and Petro Lyshak. “We would describe our backgrounds in fashion as unconventional, but incredibly hands-on,” they begin. “We don’t come from fashion school or traditional studios, but we’ve built everything ourselves from the ground up, learning through creation, iteration, and an obsessive attention to detail.”
Pavlo began in fashion by designing and selling accessories independently on Etsy. It was an experience that honed his sensibility for craftsmanship and form. Meanwhile, Petro’s expertise lay in programming, business, and operations.
Before establishing Poelle (a portmanteau of poetry and pelle or leather in Italian), the founders worked as contract manufacturers, producing for other brands in Ukraine and other parts of the world. “Even while fulfilling those orders, we knew we wanted to create something of our own–something meaningful, beautiful, and sincerely ours,” they recall. The first iteration of Poelle materialized in the form of a design-driven men’s line. Pavlo and Petro admit that it was a category that “revealed limitations in both market demand and expressing potential.”
In 2024, they pivoted into women’s accessories, and have not looked back since. The founders were clear about their vision moving into this new category. “We design for the woman we see around us: modern, urban, ambitious–someone who balances work, family, leisure, and personal style without compromising any part of her identity.” They were also intentional about connecting to their audience through form. “Not nostalgia, not legacy, but by offering contemporary beauty and structure for the now. For us, it’s never been about following market gaps or trend forecasts. It’s always been about creating what we intuitively feel is missing, and doing it with sincerity, precision, and presence.”
While many of the emerging and independent leather accessories brands today share the similar design sensibilities and proposition, the founders of Poelle distinguish their brand through “architectural silhouettes that are expressed without excess.” The Riposo bag, for instance, mirrors the movement of the sea on a summer afternoon to create a “rippling silhouette” that inspires peace, space, and calm. The team at Poelle furthers, “It was created for the women who never rushes, yet is always there.”
When asked what it is exactly that sets the Poelle apart from the rest, Pavlo and Petro respond: “Where Polène leans into soft femininity and Neous channels modernist geometry, Poelle is about structural elegance and visual presence. Our forms are assertive yet restrained, designed to hold space in a woman’s look.” The brand also puts craftsmanship front and center, creating only in small batches in the Lviv region in Western Ukraine.
Poelle’s independent atelier is assembled with a team of 50 skilled artisans, each one tasked to bring the brand’s design vision to life with precision and hand-led care. The founders share, “We invested heavily in training and quality–not just to meet standards of affordable luxury, but to exceed them. Our team is capable of creating at the quality level of the most renowned luxury houses–but with the efficiency and agility that a younger, independent brand can offer.”
Meticulous sourcing of leathers from Italy and even Ukraine echo Poelle’s reverence for design and durability. For Pavlo and Petro, this goes hand in hand with serving form and function. You cannot have a well designed bag without quality materials. “Production is not just about making bags,” they assert. “It’s about honoring the process, materials, and the hands behind every silhouette.”
The best-selling Carolyn Tote Bag is testament to the brand’s dedication to form, quality, and holding space for women. It is sized and configured for everyday essentials and tasks. “There are many large totes in the market,” Pavlo and Petro observe. “But few that combine structure, elegance, and function as well as Carolyn does. It closes with hidden magnets, is fully finished with luxury detailing inside and out, and has a sculptural silhouette that feels both firm and soft, modern yet timeless.” The Carolyn, they declare, redefines work totes as a style statement, design object, and companion that fits seamlessly into a woman’s life.
Since launching last year in August, Poelle has captured the affection of a discerning sartorial audience in Ukraine. According to the founders, despite the war, women in their country continue to invest in style. They also add that the leather and fashion industry in Ukraine continues to thrive and innovate. “There is a hunger for beauty, normalcy, and identity–and fashion is a powerful means of accessing that, even at such turbulent times.”
Poelle has its sights set on slow but steady expansion. By 2030, the founders share a vision for “growing into a fully independent accessories house, with a presence in key global cities, maintaining low-volume, high value production.” Pavlo and Petro ponder that even in a saturated, highly competitive accessories market, three pillars will consistently distinguish their brand from the rest: poetic minimalism, Ukrainian craftsmanship, and emotional connection.