Passavant and Lee brings a fresh take to the men's bag market

Men's bags are getting more original nowadays. As the men's wear market continues to grow and men become more invested in their fashion choices, brands are trying to find things to differentiate from their competitors. Passavant and Lee is a brand bringing something unique to the men's market.

Co-founder Jon Passavant started the brand two years ago with his friend Benj Lee, and they are based in New York while all the products are made in London. Passavant, who grow up close to New York, wanted the collection to embody both a New York and London vibe.

<> "There's an urban, modern, pioneering feel to the collection that is coupled with traditional craft that you'd come to expect from great British luxury," Passavant said.

Passavant and Lee revolutionizes the men's briefcase

The products feature aircraft grade aluminum with vegetable tan leather, and on the inside is a high density foam will full suede.

While the two gentleman are now businessmen, they started off posing for the camera. Passavant graduated with a business degree and moved to New York to model. He originally thought he'd be doing it for just a year, but then he ended up doing it for twelve. He and Lee had the same agencies in London and Paris, and that's what got him into the fashion world.

Passavant spent years representing brands and getting to know the people behind the scenes and understanding how the business works. This gave him and Lee "the bug" for wanting to launch their own brand, and after four years of development they eventually launched.

"I'm a bag guy, and everything I saw in that market wasn't that exciting to me," Passavant said. "Nothing seemed like it was telling a story. Nothing seemed like anything super unique I hadn't seen before. That's why we tried to re-imagine what a traditional, hardshell briefcase would look like for the modern guy."

The customer that Passavant and Lee is going after is the guy looking for a traditional briefcase, but ends up being captivated by a more modern version of that.

Passavant and Lee's bags are made from North American calfskin leather that is naturally processed. The bags are available on Passavantandlee.com

photo via Passavant and Lee website