Vera Bradley Designs, Inc. is an American design company best known for its soft, brightly patterned bags. The company was founded in March 1982 by Patricia Palletto Miller and Barbara Bradley Baekgaard, a 1962 graduate of Marymount College.Shortly after becoming friends, the two formed a wallpaper business called “Up Your Wall.” Through the wallpaper business, Miller and Baekgaard became interested in clothing. The women started Vera Bradley Inc. with only $500 in the company bank account and began operating out of Baekgaard’s basement. Originally made for the older generation and inspired by English and French designers, Vera Bradley is now a very popular trend between tweens, teens, and young adults. Named after Baekgaard's mother the company got its start when both were inspired while awaiting a flight in Atlanta, where they noticed a "definite lack of feminine-looking luggage". Within the first year the company had made over 10,000 dollars and within five years of the company hit the 3 million mark.
Vera Bradley bags come in several sizes and styles, as well as many different patterns and colors. There are travel duffels, totes, purses, wallets, eyeglass and sunglass cases, cosmetic cases, and jewelry cases. There are also umbrellas, napkins, placemats, rolling luggage, diaper bags, tableware, rugs, accessories, and stationery.
Periodically, the company will retire a pattern. When patterns retire, new ones are produced. New patterns are released four times per year beginning in 2010: spring, summer, fall, and winter.
Vera Bradley also offers sorority items, as Miller was a member of the Sigma Upsilon Chapter of Kappa Delta.
