Dooney & Bourke is a company specializing in fashion accessories, such as handbags, luggage, bracelets, watches, and briefcases, as well as a limited clothing line, which includes sweaters, shoes, jackets, and scarves. While most products are made for women, there are some products, such as sweaters, belts, wallets, briefcases, and some shoes made for men. Founded in 1975, Dooney & Bourke products range from $60–$850.
History
Dooney & Bourke started in 1975 when Peter Dooney and Frederic Bourke launched their namesake in South Norwalk, Connecticut. The duo started off with two introductory products: surcingle belts, which were popular due to their unique vibrant colors and stripes, and classic suspenders. In 1981, Dooney & Bourke branched out into the handbag business with the release of the Tack Case and the Equestrian Bag, both made from bridle leather. Along with their original purse, distributors such as Nordstrom, Brooks Brothers, and Saks Fifth Avenue, they opened The Company Store in Norwalk, Connecticut which sold among other things Dooney & Bourke Merchandise. In 1983, with the development of their famous All-Weather Leather bag, the first AWL handbag collection was released featuring a duck logo with a russet leather trim. In 2006 and 2007, the "Emma Bag," a small oval sized bag named after Emma Roberts, was created. In 2007, Hayden Panettiere, an actress on the NBC television series Heroes, designed a new bag for Dooney & Bourke
Advertising today
For 2007/2008, actress Hayden Panettiere has taken over the creation of her own line of Dooney & Bourke bags, including the Hayden bag, and the patent leather bag known as the 'Chiarra'. The 2006 representative for Dooney & Bourke was actress Emma Roberts of Aquamarine and Unfabulous, the niece of Julia Roberts. Other celebrities including Mischa Barton from The O.C., Lindsay Lohan, and Michelle Trachtenberg have modeled in advertisements for Dooney & Bourke in past years. Dooney & Bourke advertise in several fashion and style magazines such as Vogue, Teen Vogue, ELLE, Vanity Fair, Lucky, InStyle, and W. Dooney & Bourke also sends out quarterley catalogs to customers who join their mailing list by visiting their website or calling their toll-free number. Throughout the years, the Dooney & Bourke brand have advertised to capture youthful consumers. The brand have designed a young-looking style for adolescents, expanding their consumers.
A number of Dooney & Bourke Factory Stores can be found throughout the United States. Addresses can be found via their tool on . Dooney and Bourke products can also be purchased online, on auction sites such as eBay. Dooney and Bourke products can be purchased at Macy's, Dillards, Lord and Taylor and many other department stores, off-price discount stores, and at many Dooney & Bourke factory stores nationwide.
In April 2004, rival Louis Vuitton filed suit against Dooney & Bourke, stating Dooney & Bourke had infringed its allegedly famous Murakami Monogram Multicolore collection. On May 30, 2008, District Court JudgeShira Scheindlin ruled in favor of Dooney & Bourke and dismissed the case.
Conspiracy and bribery conviction of Bourke
On July 9, 2009, Frederic Bourke was found guilty by a jury and convicted of conspiracy and bribery under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and Travel Act in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Bourke was convicted of conspiring with a Czech national, Viktor Kožený, also known as "Pirate of Prague" to pay bribes to the ex-president and government officials of Azerbaijan. The bribery involved a 1998 scheme to induce the sale and purchase of the Azeri state oil company. Although Bourke did not personally bribe the government officials and lost his $8 million investment in a hedge fund managed by the Czech national, Bourke was found to have known personally that money invested in the fund were used for bribing Azeri officials with cash and a secret 2/3 interest in the oil company. After the jury verdict, District Judge Shira Scheindlin assessed a $1 million fine against Bourke and sentenced him to a jail term of one year and a day, followed by three years of probation.
