With $10 million in annual sales, Linjer is winning over customers with beautiful, accessibly priced leather bags, watches and jewelry. Read the story of how founders Jennifer Chong and Roman Khan built their brand from scratch.

Linjer’s Tulip Bag and Automatic Watch — *Linjer’s* *Tulip Bag* *and* *Automatic Watch*

“Classic, well-made products. Beautiful design. Unbeatable value.”

These are the values that the independent brand Linjer holds dear.

Since 2014, this independent label created by the couple Jennifer Chong and Roman Khan, has been selling handsome accessories for men and women via their website (www.linjer.co).

Their spin on things? They work with the same suppliers as luxury brands, yet they sell their pieces for a fraction of the price of traditional luxury brands. In plainer terms, you can buy automatic ETA movement watches for $549, Italian leather handbags in the $250-$525 range, gold vermeil jewelry starting from $15, and even solid gold jewelry pieces for less than $100 (all in USD).

Linjer’s Fine Jewelry: Siri Wrap Ring ($26.50), Kirsten Pearl Huggies ($72.00) and Sigrid Earrings ($45.00) and Sigrid Necklace ($71.00) — *Linjer’s Fine Jewelry:* *Siri Wrap Ring* *($26.50),* *Kirsten Pearl Huggies* *($72.00) and* *Sigrid Earrings* *($45.00) and* *Sigrid Necklace* *($71.00)*

Amy Adams wearing The Mini, Rashida Jones in The Crossbody Purse, Selma Blair with The Tulip Bag — *Amy Adams wearing* *The Mini, Rashida Jones in* *The Crossbody Purse, Selma Blair with* *The Tulip Bag*

The concept—and Linjer’s designs—seems to resonate. Linjer have won praise from The Wirecutter for their Soft Briefcase; they’ve had two blockbuster million-dollar crowdfunding campaigns for their watches; and their handbags have been spotted on the arms of A-list celebrities such as Amy Adams, Brie Larson, Rachel McAdams, Jessica Alba, Rashida Jones and Selma Blair.

We interviewed co-founder Jennifer Chong to learn more about Linjer.

How did the idea for Linjer come about?

JC: It all started because Roman needed a briefcase for work. He had a corporate job and wanted to look professional at work. He’s from Oslo and I would say he’s very typically Norwegian in his style and sensibilities. He wanted a bag made with nice materials, very minimalist...and definitely not with a huge flashy logo on it. He’s not much of a shopper so I (as his girlfriend at the time) helped him in his search.

Unfortunately, it felt like the choices were between fast-fashion or really overpriced luxury (and often with huge flashy logo). To buy something well-made meant spending $2,000 USD+. I had recently learned that luxury brands mark-up their products outrageously. They’ll make something for $10 and sell it for $200…all because of a brand name, which we personally don’t care about anyway.

It occurred to me that many of our peers also wanted well-made things without spending outrageous sums to wear a luxury product. So I thought, why don’t we replicate the supply chains of luxury brands and sell our products directly to our customers at a lower price? Then we can avoid the crazy markups and make it easier for people to afford to buy things that last.

*Co-founders Roman Khan and Jennifer Chong at work*

Neither you nor Roman studied fashion or design. How did you come to start a brand in the fashion space?

JC: For us, creating Linjer was all about meeting a need that we felt was not being served. We certainly never expected to work in the fashion space - we had super corporate jobs before!

We started the brand with US$20,000 in savings. We didn’t know whether the concept (luxury quality products without the luxury markup) had legs and we were very cautious about risk, so we did a crowdfunding campaign. Our Indiegogo campaign in 2014 was for our first collection of men’s bags, of which The Soft Briefcase was the star of the show. To our surprise and delight, we raised $144,000 in 40 days, so we effectively got $144,000 in pre-orders.

However, it took another year of building confidence in our idea before I quit my job and joined Roman working on Linjer full-time.

Through crowdfunding launches of new collections, we’ve been able to grow that initial $20,000 in our own ‘seed’ funding into a healthy, profitable business. We haven’t had to take on any outside investor funding, which we are really happy about.

Some of Linjer’s Swiss movement watches: The Chronograph and The Petite

What have been the highlights of your journey with your business so far?

JC: A few things come to mind. Having our Soft Briefcase named “Best Leather Briefcase” by The Wirecutter for the first time in 2016. We are obsessed with quality, and to be acknowledged by an authoritative publication like The Wirecutter was really gratifying and validating.

Second - and maybe this seems a little frivolous - it’s fun to see famous people wearing our designs! I love Amy Adams and Jenna Fischer, and when some friends who follow them forwarded me photos of them with our bags (Amy with The Mini and Jenna with The Soft Tote), I was elated.

And finally, I personally get a lot of joy and satisfaction from interacting with customers (hearing the good and the bad) and seeing our customers wearing our products out and about. I saw a woman wearing our Tulip Bag a few weeks ago and she was so stylishly dressed and the bag looked amazing on her. Her whole outfit just felt like perfection. That was really cool to see.

What have been the biggest struggles you’ve faced?

JC: We depend a lot on our factories and our fulfillment partners to get things right and deliver an excellent experience for our customers. Over the years, some of our partners have had some serious mess-ups that have cost us a lot of money. I think that comes with the territory in manufacturing, though; over the years you learn what kinds of things to look out for and which suppliers to avoid.

What’s next for Linjer?

JC: We just launched our latest category, jewelry, in the summer of 2019. It’s been a big hit and we’re excited to continue to expand here, particularly with cool pieces made with ethically-sourced gemstones and solid gold. We also have many new bags designs in the works! Besides that, our team is always focused on continually delivering an excellent product to our customers.