There is a version of shopping that feels productive but isn’t. You buy something. It’s fine. It does the job, mostly. Six months later it’s tired, and you’re looking again.

Over a decade, this cycle adds up to a wardrobe full of things that are almost right. Almost the right bag. Almost the right quality. Almost worth carrying.

The alternative isn’t buying nothing. It’s buying differently.

 

The real cost of cheap bags

A $60 laptop bag that lasts 18 months and gets replaced three times over five years costs $180 — and three rounds of disappointment. A $499 bag that lasts a decade and travels with you through every version of your career costs less in the long run, and considerably more in satisfaction.

This isn’t a new idea. But it’s one that gets lost when the cheaper option is right there and the better one requires a decision.

The decision, though, is the point. Choosing something well means you think about what you actually need, what will hold up, what will still feel right in five years. That kind of consideration produces better outcomes than convenience does.

 

What “better” actually means

Better doesn’t just mean more expensive. It means more considered. A well-made bag is one where every decision — the material, the hardware, the proportion, the pocket placement — was made intentionally.

In a PORTÉ bag, that means:

•       Premium pebble vegan leather that holds its shape and resists everyday wear

•       Gold-tone hardware that doesn’t tarnish or feel dated after a few months

•       A silhouette drawn from handbag design, not corporate supply catalogues

•       Interior and exterior pockets positioned where you actually reach, not where they were easy to manufacture

•       Protective feet that mean the base of your bag doesn’t deteriorate from being put down

These aren’t luxury details. They’re the difference between a bag that stays relevant and one that gradually isn’t.

The slow fashion argument for accessories

Slow fashion has largely been a conversation about clothing. Buy fewer pieces. Choose natural fibres. Support ethical manufacturing. Wear things more than twice.

But the same logic applies to the bag you carry every day — arguably more so. A bag is used more frequently than most garments. It takes more physical wear. And it sits alongside every outfit you own, which means its quality (or lack of it) is visible constantly.

At Deer You, slow fashion has always been the foundation of how we make clothing. PORTÉ extends that same philosophy into accessories. Fewer things, made with more care, designed to outlast the trends that were happening when you bought them.

The environmental case is real, but it’s not the only one

Buying less and buying better is genuinely better for the environment. Fewer units produced, less waste, longer product lifecycles. We believe in this, and it’s part of why we were recognised with the 2024 Big Impact Sustainability Award.

But the personal case is just as compelling. When you own fewer things that are all right, your mornings are easier. You know what you’re reaching for. You don’t spend mental energy on things that should be sorted.

A bag you love using, that does everything you need, that looks exactly right — that’s not an indulgence. It’s an investment in how you move through your day.

 

On the question of price

We know $499 is a considered purchase. We’re not trying to pretend otherwise.

What we’d ask you to consider is: what is the alternative? Because the alternative isn’t $0. It’s a series of $80 bags that need replacing, or a $300 tote bag that looks right but doesn’t actually fit your laptop securely-  it is just a really big bag that fits alot of stuff, or continuing to carry two bags because neither one does the whole job.

The Manhattan Laptop Tote costs what it costs because it’s made to replace all of those. And because the women who carry it deserve something that was made with the same seriousness they bring to everything else in their working life.

Buying less means buying with more intention

The case for buying less, better isn’t really about restraint. It’s about intention. About choosing things that deserve to be chosen — and then using them, fully, for as long as they hold up.

A bag that travels with you through a decade of your career isn’t just a bag. It’s in the photos. It’s in the memories. It becomes, in the way that well-used things do, part of the story.

That’s what we’re making. And that’s what we think you deserve to carry.

 

Shop the Manhattan Laptop Tote → deeryou.com.au/products/manhattan-leather-laptop-tote-bag

 

Read about our impact → deeryou.com.au/pages/our-impact