Orla Dempsey finds out how a bag line was born out of Nikki Lannen and Joanne McNally’s friendship
Co-founders of Anxious Preoccupied Nikki Lannen, left, with The Micro bag, €115, and Joanne McNally with the The Barrel bag, €125, anxiouspreoccupied.com
Comedian Joanne McNally wearing The Bum Bag, €149, anxiouspreoccupied.com
The Bum Bag, €149, anxiouspreoccupied.com
Joanne McNally and Nikki Lannen have got it in the bag… a gigantic colourful metallic bag to be exact. This 15-year-old relationship has now turned into a business venture – bag line Anxious Preoccupied – although the pair’s friendship style is anything but that.
So how did it all begin for podcaster and comedian McNally and businesswoman Lannen? Lannen confides: “So we met out one night at a party and we just immediately gelled… I mean, we really gelled. We hung out with each other for the whole night.
When we started the brand it was just us.” The friends had no one overseeing their business or giving marketing advice so they had free rein on what to do and where to take it, including the name.
The Bum Bag, €149, anxiouspreoccupied.com
“Basically, Joanne and her ex-boyfriend went for counselling. And anxious preoccupied is an attachment style… And I remember after that, Joanne was like, ‘That is so deadly, Anxious Preoccupied.’”
The pair worked on bringing to market the kind of handbags that they wanted and that were useful for modern women.
“The oversized bag was our first product. We thought, ‘What could you chuck your whole life into?’ Because that’s what we do when we leave the house,” says Lannen. “I was coming at it from a having kids perspective. You need to be able to find the nappies, bottles, all of that stuff. We’ve actually added a strap so it can hook onto a pram.
Then Joanne was seeing what she needed for her lifestyle, like, travelling, having a pocket that’s big enough for a passport and just day-to-day life. You know? Joanne needs to find her wine too!
“The bum bags are our most requested product,” adds Lannen. The duo have no plans on slowing down, with ideas for an oversized clutch and a half-moon bag too. “And we’re doing our best to enter the UK market this year… so that’s really exciting,” says Lannen.
Comedian Joanne McNally wearing The Bum Bag, €149, anxiouspreoccupied.com
What your Anxious Preoccupied oversized bum bag says about you…
Did they ever go out of fashion? Of course not, writes Joanne McNally. We want our essentials strapped around us. It says: I’m fun, but I’ve planned for every possible outcome. Lip balm? Plasters? Portable charger? Emergency wine in case someone cancels plans and you need to self-soothe immediately. Tick. It’s all in there. Resting proudly on your front (or the back!), it’s less hands-free convenience and more of an emotional-support pouch. The Bum Bag, €149, anxiouspreoccupied.com