Who is JW PEI? The Los Angeles vegan bag label, explained

JW PEI is a Los Angeles fashion label founded in 2018 by Yang Pei and Stephanie Li, a husband and wife, and it is best known for sculptural vegan-leather bags at prices well below the designer houses whose customers carry them. The name is the founders’ own (Pei is the family name, and the brand is said as three letters, J, W, P-E-I). Luxury Handbags carries 1083 JW PEI bag colourways and 561 pieces of the ready-to-wear the label added to its site in 2024. This is the short version of the brand’s story, with the facts checked against the brand’s own pages and the interviews its founders have given.

Key facts

• Founded in 2018 in Los Angeles, California, by Yang Pei and Stephanie Li, a husband and wife.
• Every bag is made in animal-free materials: vegan leather, faux suede, canvas, denim, satin and faux straw. Part of the fabric is certified as made from recycled plastic bottles.
• The Gabbi ruched hobo made the brand: Irina Shayk carried it first, then Emily Ratajkowski, Hailey Bieber, Gigi Hadid and Megan Fox during New York Fashion Week, by co-founder Stephanie Li’s own account in a 2022 interview.
• The brand’s press page also lists Anne Hathaway, Selena Gomez, Jennie, Jenna Ortega, Doja Cat, Lucy Hale and Shay Mitchell among its wearers.
• Bags run from about USD 39 to USD 329 at the brand’s own store; at Luxury Handbags the 1083 bag colourways run $160 to $590 and the 561 clothing pieces $240 to $680, with authentication and worldwide express shipping included.
• JW PEI has stores in New York (SoHo), Beirut (ABC Verdun) and Kuwait (The Gate Mall and Assima Mall), and is stocked by Simons, Galeries Lafayette, La Rinascente, El Corte Ingles, Fenwick, Liberty, Level Shoes, Harvey Nichols, David Jones and The Iconic.
• No JW PEI bag uses animal leather, and the brand describes its products as imported; it does not publish a factory country.

Who founded JW PEI, and where is it from?

JW PEI was started in Los Angeles in 2018 by Yang Pei and Stephanie Li. Li has described the aim in plain terms: a vegan fashion brand that modern women could afford without giving up on quality. The couple still run the company from Los Angeles, the brand ships its American orders from a warehouse in Ontario, California, and its wholesale arm trades as JW PEI AP Limited. So the answer to the most-searched question about the label, where it is from, is Los Angeles. The bags themselves are described by the brand as imported, and it does not name a factory country on the product pages, which is worth knowing if provenance matters to you. Luxury Handbags records every JW PEI piece with a country of origin of Imported for that reason.

What is JW PEI known for?

Bags, first and always. The Gabbi, a small ruched hobo with a gathered top handle, became one of the most photographed bags of 2021 and is still the design most people picture when they hear the name. Li told JDEED Magazine in 2022 that the team knew from the start the Gabbi would do well, but did not expect the street-style pick-up: Irina Shayk carried it first, then Emily Ratajkowski in several colours on four separate occasions, then Hailey Bieber, Gigi Hadid and Megan Fox during New York Fashion Week. The Gabbi Ruched Hobo is at Luxury Handbags in 10 colourways.

The rest of the range grew around that success. The Hana tote is the work bag, a clean-lined tote in mini, medium and large that takes a 12.9-inch iPad in the medium size. The Joy shoulder bag is the nineties baguette. The Lucia is the structured top-handle bag with a detachable strap, made in vegan leather, faux suede, woven and crystal versions. The Abacus is the small architectural top-handle bag with a rigid handle, the one the brand cuts in crystal, sequin and faux fur for the evening. Around them sit bucket bags (the Rowan), east-west shoulder bags (the Arden), embellished clutches (the Holly) and a line of novelty animal bags, dachshunds, cats, penguins, sharks and pigeons among them.

What JW PEI bags are made of

JW PEI is a vegan brand. The main material on most bags is a polyurethane-based vegan leather, smooth, pebbled and croc-embossed depending on the style, with faux suede, canvas, denim, satin and faux straw as the alternatives. Linings are polyester, faux suede and vegan leather. Li said in 2022 that the brand used a certified fabric made from recycled plastic bottles and was working towards more than 50% recycled material in future collections. None of that makes the bags biodegradable, and a plastic-derived material is still plastic, so read the label’s sustainability claims for what they are: animal-free and partly recycled, not a natural-material story. The full material notes are in our guide to JW PEI vegan leather.

The clothing

Ready-to-wear appeared on jwpei.com in January 2024 and has grown quickly. Most of it is dresses: strapless corset minis, floral-applique maxis, satin gowns, and the floral capsules the brand names after the flowers they carry, the Iris, the Orchid, the Calla Lily and the Tulip. There are blazers, jeans, tees and a few skirts and tops around them. The Iris Print Satin Slip Mini Dress in Soft Yellow is typical: a printed dress with a corset line, cut close, at a price that leaves room for the bag. The sizing is American, US 2 to 10, which Luxury Handbags lists on the UK ladder as 6 to 14; our JW PEI size guide carries the conversion and the brand’s garment measurements.

Where JW PEI sells

The brand sells through its own site, with localised stores for the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Korea, and through a growing list of department stores: Simons in Canada, Galeries Lafayette, BHV, Printemps and Citadium in France, La Rinascente in Italy, El Corte Ingles in Spain and Portugal, Fenwick and Liberty in London, Level Shoes in Dubai, Harvey Nichols in Kuwait and Doha, and David Jones and The Iconic in Australia. It opened its first store in New York’s SoHo in 2025 and has stores in Beirut and Kuwait. Luxury Handbags carries the bags and the clothing together, with authentication and express shipping worldwide; the full list is in where to buy JW PEI.

Is JW PEI a luxury brand?

Not in the sense of the European houses, and the brand does not claim to be. It sits in accessible luxury: designer-looking shapes, small metal branding, department-store distribution and celebrity wearers, at a fraction of designer prices. Polène, the closest comparison in shape, runs at a median of $1,020 at Luxury Handbags against a JW PEI bag median of $310. We answer the question properly in is JW PEI a luxury brand.

Frequently asked questions

Who owns JW PEI?

JW PEI is owned and run by its founders, Yang Pei and Stephanie Li, a husband and wife who started the label in Los Angeles in 2018. It is an independent company rather than part of a fashion group.

Where is JW PEI from?

Los Angeles, California. The brand was founded there in 2018, is still run from there, and ships its United States orders from a warehouse in Ontario, California. The bags are described by the brand as imported and no factory country is published.

How do you pronounce JW PEI?

As the letters J and W followed by Pei, said “pay”. Pei is the family name of co-founder Yang Pei.

Is JW PEI real leather?

No. JW PEI is a vegan brand and uses no animal leather at all. Its main material is a polyurethane-based vegan leather, with faux suede, canvas, denim, satin and faux straw on other styles, and part of its fabric is certified as made from recycled plastic bottles.

Which celebrities wear JW PEI?

By the co-founder’s own account, Irina Shayk, Emily Ratajkowski, Hailey Bieber, Gigi Hadid and Megan Fox all carried the Gabbi bag soon after its launch. The brand’s press page also lists Anne Hathaway, Selena Gomez, Jennie, Jenna Ortega, Doja Cat, Joey King, Lucy Hale, Shay Mitchell, Tinashe, Saweetie and Anitta.

Does JW PEI make clothing?

Yes. Ready-to-wear appeared on the brand’s site in January 2024, and Luxury Handbags carries 561 pieces, most of them dresses, in US sizes 2 to 10 (UK 6 to 14), alongside 1083 bag colourways.

Is JW PEI available at Luxury Shoes ?

Yes. Luxury Handbags carries 1083 JW PEI bag colourways and 561 pieces of clothing, every one authenticated, with express shipping worldwide by DHL Express and FedEx.

Read next

Is JW PEI a luxury brand? JW PEI vegan leather: what it is and how it wears. The best JW PEI bags, ranked. Brands like JW PEI. Shop the full JW PEI collection at Luxury Shoes .