Premium British luggage brand Antler has reported a positive festive sales period with turnover in November and December up 43% year on year, following on from a stellar year in which it relaunched.

Its strongest festive season performance came through its UK domestic e-commerce site, which is a pleasing result given that the UK is the brand’s biggest market. Online sales during the peak period rose as much as 86% against the same period last year.

The strong finish to the calendar year meant the company was able to post a 48% sales rise for the first 10 months of its financial year (FY24, which runs until the end of February).

Coming on top of explosive  growth over the last two years, it’s a clear sign of the brand’s revival.

In fact, it said that FY23 saw sales growth of 427% to £27 million and with only two months left of FY24, it’s forecasting sales to rise 41% in total to £40 million.

It said the “exceptional performance outstrips expectations capitalising on the prosperous travel sector post-pandemic. The prevailing ‘revenge travel’ macro trend continues to fuel heightened demand across the travel industry”.

And its second biggest market is Australia which achieved 55% growth during the two peak months. But its growth has been helped especially by its launch in the US last May via a dedicated e-tail site and localised distribution. US sales “surged throughout the year. capturing 10% of [its] global e-commerce sales during peak months, affirming a growing appetite for the British brand stateside”.

That US market growth remains “pivotal in Antler’s FY25 strategy which includes national distribution within premium wholesale partners and the brand’s first international bricks and mortar store”.

That all comes after 2023 saw it undergoing a “significant brand overhaul and transformative brand evolution”, unveiling its official rebrand in May.

It said it was a “a pivotal moment under the leadership of Managing Director Kirsty Glenne, who took the reins in May 2022”.

The brand introduced a “fresh elevated aesthetic, refined tone of voice, a new logo and a re-platformed global e-commerce site to optimise customer experience”.

Glenne said: “Phase two of our rebrand is the launch of our new collection in April, a new retail concept and the continuation of our US growth strategy.”

It said it will open a wholesale pop-up during May in Selfridges and has plans for a UK physical store too, presumably when it introduces the aforementioned new retail concept.