About and Contact
Brand Statement
Timeless. Luxurious. Functional. Attainably priced. At Silver & Riley, we don’t believe that luxury needs to break the bank, nor do we believe in compromising on style and quality. Our products are Made in Italy in the same factories, at the same costs and through the same processes through which other luxury bag brands create their products, but our bags are priced at a fraction of theirs. We are always focused on providing the best luxury products with attainable pricing, because we believe everyone deserves access to quality.
We are proud to be a women-led, principled brand driven by our core values as follows:
- Team Diversity
- Products and Marketing Inclusivity
- Customer Focus
- Social Engagement
- Integrity
About Our Products
Silver & Riley is a luxury brand and our products are made of top of the line materials. This was a non-negotiable. All our bags have the following qualities.
- Premium Full Grain
- Calf or Cowhide Leather
- Leather that ages gracefully and develops a rich patina with time
- All metal accessories sourced from top quality suppliers
The Story
The idea behind creating a luxury travel and accessories company was conceived nearly a decade ago while traveling weekly for work as a Strategy Consultant and observing what people struggled with on their journeys. The products on the market either skewed towards overly functional but boring to look at, or beautiful to look at but lacking in usability.
This birthed the desire to create a brand that bridges the gap between functional and stylish travel and fashion accessories that can be enjoyed by all, and to marry the love for the world and travel with the love for fashion and design.
For over a year, our founder conducted market research and put together focus groups on consumer preferences, then visited manufacturers and factories around the world to find skilled craftspersons to bring her ideas to life. The process was thorough. The focus was on finding factories that had a reputation for excellence and have the highest quality standards while also operating in a sustainable and eco-friendly manner. The search landed her in Italy (Tuscany and Naples), where quality is always a core value and the craftsmanship is irrefutable. The creative process is from end to end (e.g. design and concept to production), so our customers can be certain that the attention to detail and focus on customer intimacy remains intact.
All Silver & Riley products are created to be multifunctional and to offer maximum utility, giving you the most bang for your buck.
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About the Founder and Designer
Woman, Daughter, Big Sister, Niece, Friend, Academic, Designer, Fashionista, Entrepreneur, Change Agent, Global Citizen, Consultant, Strategist, Photographer, Innovator, Designer, Artist, Writer, Servant Leader, World Traveler, Philanthropist...
...are some of the adjectives that can be used to describe me. Above all, I am passionate. About people, the world, giving back and going for your dreams. It is this passion that propelled me to fulfill an almost decade long dream by launching Silver & Riley.
Being a global citizen is a way of life and I am fortunate to have been able to travel to over 100 countries (and counting). I fully immerse myself in various cultures and ways of life, and seek to have deep, meaningful experiences, all from which I have drawn inspiration. From the streets of New York, Lagos and Milan, to the shores of Rio de Janeiro, Honolulu and Okinawa and the hills of Auckland, San Francisco and Valparaíso, I continue to study diligently and soak up the best of various cultures and street fashion.
I am a lifelong student, always learning at every opportunity. In terms of traditional education, I am grateful to have earned a Bachelor of Science in Materials Engineering and Mathematics from Rutgers University, a Masters of Science in Financial Engineering from New York University (NYU), and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) in Strategy, Finance and Decision Sciences from Emory University. I have also studied at business schools around the world including (FGV) Rio (Brazil), (WHU) Koblenz (Germany), (RSM) Erasmus (Netherlands), The London School of Economics and
(SDA) Bocconi (Italy).
Each Silver & Riley product has been designed in a way that combines my passion for problem solving and building things better (through my experience as an Engineer and now as a Corporate Strategist) with my affinity towards fashion design - which I picked up from my mother, whom the brand is dedicated to. I draw, conceptualize and then work with my manufacturers to bring all Silver & Riley items to life. I am very attentive to detail, especially when it comes to designing functionality that make moving around much more seamless, but doesn’t compromise on style or timelessness.
What's in a name?
Silver & Riley is dedicated to my late mother, a consummate entrepreneur in her time. One of her businesses was a jewelry business. She would fly to the Middle East to buy beautiful gold jewelry to sell to her customers and would also outfit my siblings, cousins and I in beautiful gold pieces. However, I always wanted to stand out, so I'd beg her to buy me silver instead. And thus birthed her special nickname for me. It's been almost two decades since she passed away, but still, every time I hear the word silver, I think of her, hence it made sense to include this in the naming of the brand. But the brand dedication to her doesn't stop at the name alone - it also exists throughout the brand principles. Though I was a child observing her running her businesses, I learned a lot of what I know today from her, especially as it relates to customer intimacy. I aspire to make every customer feel as special and important as she used to make hers feel.
I hope you enjoy the brand and are able to immediately see how much passion, dedication and care went into every aspect of it. I am grateful you’ve chosen us!
xoxo, Lola
