We're not going anywhere for a while, right guys? Let's face it - travel options are slim in these days of high contagion, but our minds are holidaying like crazy. On the one hand, daydreaming of holiday destinations has put so much more value on the time we'll spend abroad. On the other, it also means that many brands with travel at their core proposition are having to rethink their approach to collections and marketing, as many of us won't be getting on a plane anytime soon. We thought we'd talk to Charlotte Lewis, previously a Shopping Editor at Glamour UK, turned brand founder of site Ven Store, whose focus on travel essentials in quality materials is a cult favourite of some our most fashionable friends! We thought we'd ask her how she was taking these days head on and applying new rules to her brand.

For a brand centered around travel, how are you coping with all the uncertainty around the next time you'll step foot on an airplane?
I think for any business it is an incredibly uncertain time and when it comes to travel the future is definitely unknown. However, our pieces have always been designed with flexibility in mind and we have really seen customers embracing the idea of staying at home. We don’t work to seasons or produce collections, we stock our staple pieces year round and we have really seen the benefit of that during this period. Also there has been a lot of dialogue around supporting small businesses, which has been amazing.


It feels like the same principles of comfort and ease for travel translate nicely into a uniform for working-from-home - how do you create your classics? What are the things that you strive for?
The idea for Ven was born somewhere between London and Los Angeles, a trip that I had taken four times that month [when she was an editor]. Always in economy, often for less than 48 hours at a time. I was never comfortable, struggling to find the right pieces to pack and wear.


I wanted to create simple, luxurious, practical pieces that you could rely on time and time again. Easy to wear and easy to pack travel staples.


The pieces are designed with travel in mind because if they are going to make a long-haul flight more comfortable then they will definitely do the job anywhere else.

Considered simplicity is the backbone of the brand. Created to be hard-working, from home to holiday. The blanket in our Travel Set is the perfect cover up for chilly evenings, our beach pyjamas are designed to take you from your morning coffee to dinner. Comfort and practicality, perhaps not the first words to inspire excitement when it comes to your wardrobe, however I really believe there is an enduring appeal to simple styles.


What's the first non-work destination your planning on visiting when we are safely and comfortably able to travel again?
I had two trips to Italy planned this summer, one with family and a delayed honeymoon with my husband, both unfortunately have been cancelled. But when we are able to travel safely again, I would really love to take my daughter to Barbados, an island that is very special to my family, to see her grandfather.  
 
Has this two month pause given you a new perspective on travel? How will it change, if at all, how you approach Ven Store?
I am an avid vacation planner. My father jokes that it’s my second job. In Europe it is so easy to get to beautiful destinations in an hour or so, it’s sort of addictive. But I think this pause has allowed us the opportunity to really sit and think about when we can travel again.. where is it you really want to go and why. I think plans will become much more considered. The trips we are lucky enough to take will become more magical. Perhaps there will be a sense of novelty about boarding a plane.

Whilst Ven’s brand message is strongly tied to the idea of practicality, the love of travel, of escapism, is the heart of the brand and I think it is important to continue to celebrate that!

Shop Ven Store HERE