About

HANDBAGS REIMAGINED FOR MODERN LIFE

Nomads is a New York City-based sport bag and accessory company founded in 2015 by CFDA award winning designer Carmen Chen Wu and Aaron Luo to reimagine handbags for modern life.

We both grew up in Spain to Chinese families. My grandfather was Carmen’s grandmother’s business partner in Spain. They opened the earliest and most successful Chinese restaurants in the country, including one in which the Spanish Royal family dined. But after a few years, we really only met in New York when we both happened to each be looking for a partner to build the next generation's go-to handbag company at the same time. Crazy how life works! 

We both felt that while there were abundant activewear apparel options, the luxury handbag space was neglected. Our goal was very simple, yet groundbreaking. We wanted to create a well-made, versatile and smart sports bags that could transition from street to fitness studio, business meeting to dinner, and everywhere in between.

To this day, our mission remains simple: to create a lifestyle brand that puts design, versatility, functionality and craftsmanship first. We want to create a set of well-designed products that are far superior to any other bags in the market, ultimately attempting to reinvent the handbag category.

Making history

Your bag is your ultimate companion and should be thoughtfully designed to fit your needs. We started Nomads because we couldn’t find anything in the market that could keep up with our love of exercise and travel and look good doing so. Our bag wardrobe was made up of two extremes: designer handbags that we were nervous to even put on the floor and cheaply made backpacks or duffels that you keep in the back of your closet out of long-haul necessity. Why should you have to choose between beauty and function? We created the Studio Bag - combining high-quality fabrics and hardwares with sport functionality – and the rest is history.