Veronica Swanson Beard, alongside her sister-in-law Veronica Miele Beard, celebrate 15 years of their namesake fashion line.
Every day, when Veronica Swanson Beard steps off the elevator at work, she says to herself, “I love this place.” That place, a chic corporate headquarters steps away from Manhattan’s Union Square, is the home to Veronica Beard, the fashion darling recently named Private Company of the Year by Women’s Wear Daily.
Veronica Swanson Beard is Co-CEO of the company that, according to Forbes, has annual revenues of more than $300 million.
And it all started thanks to a wedding.
Two Veronicas, One Vision
In a remarkable twist of fate, Veronica Swanson Beard met her future business partner, Veronica Miele Beard, and her future husband, Jamie Beard, on the same night.
“When I got to the wedding, my sister pulled me over, and she said, “You have to come over and meet the other Veronica,’” recalled Swanson Beard, who admits that until that point, she had never met another person with her same name.
The women immediately clicked. At the same time, their friends were hoping to set Swanson Beard up with Veronica Miele’s brother-in-law, Jamie, who had just moved to New York City.
But Swanson Beard wasn’t sure anything would happen.
“This guy is amazing. He’s so cute, but there’s no way that this is going anywhere because I’m looking across the table at his sister-in-law,“ recalls Swanson Beard. “Anyway, cut to, four years later, and we were married.”
The Jacket That Launched a Brand
The sister-in-laws talked at length about different business opportunities, including designing modern maternity pieces and importing a beloved bag line. Swanson Beard had an affinity for fashion from an early age, growing up in Naples, Florida, London, and Northern California, taking note of the “chic women” and “cool girls” she encountered. But the two women kept coming back to one idea: the dickey jacket, a sophisticated yet more casual twist on a woman’s blazer.
“There were brands that existed in men’s wear that had this sweater component, but they weren’t removable and interchangeable, and it didn’t exist for women,” recalls Swanson Beard. So they decide to make one themselves.
Both women left their jobs, Veronica Swanson Beard as a fashion buyer and Veronica Miele Beard in finance. They sourced material, had samples crafted, and held their first market in Swanson Beard’s apartment. At the end of it, they had eight accounts.
“One of them was Saks. And so we were off to the races,” Swanson Beard said. The feeling that came next was, “Oh God, now we’ve got to figure out how to make this business a business.”
In those early years, there were challenges. But Swanson Beard believed being a first-time entrepreneur has its benefits. “What you don’t know is so good, because if you did know, you wouldn’t do it. It’s hard, and it’s scary, and the odds are not in your favor, you know, but we persevered.”
The two now share side-by-side desks in the same office and work in tandem each day. “We’re like a married couple. We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses,” Swanson Beard says. “We’ll have a blowout fight and five minutes later it’s like, okay, fine.” Their foundation is unshakeable. “Because we are family, we’re not going anywhere. We’re in this forever.”
A Star-Studded Stamp of Approval
An early pinch-me moment was the stamp of approval from style-setter Gwyneth Paltrow via her goop newsletter.
“There was an amazing picture of her wearing our jacket with the beach dickie, which was a red and blue striped dickie… and she was running through the streets of London,” recalls Swanson Beard. “It was like, oh my God, we have arrived,” Swanson Beard recalls.
In the 15 years since they launched, the brand has introduced a full “uniform” for women, including pants, sweaters, jeans, dresses, shoes, bags, swimwear, jewelry, and more. Veronica Beard is sold in department stores such as Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, and Saks Fifth Avenue, as well as in 45 brick-and-mortar stores across North America and Europe.
Celebrity fans of the brand include Gisele Bündchen, Katie Holmes, Meghan Markle, Selena Gomez, and Kate Middleton, who famously wore a white and black Veronica Beard dress in her video announcement that she had completed cancer treatment in September of 2024.
A Working Woman & Mom Of Three
Through all of it, both Veronicas were also raising children. Between the two of them, they have eight kids. Three of them are now at college together.
In thinking about how she managed life with her three sons, Swanson Beard recalls reading an essay from Natalie Massenet, founder of Net-a-Porter. “When you’re juggling motherhood, marriage, and a business, one ball is always rising, and one is always falling.
“There’s no balance when you’re a business owner and a mother,” Swanson Beard says. “I think you just try and do your best at both.” When her boys were younger, that meant scheduling her days so she could drop them off at school before hopping on the train to the city.
Now that her sons are older, they have a better insight into what she’s accomplished. “I think they really appreciate the work that it’s taken us and what we’ve built. Their girlfriends and friends love the brand, their friends’ moms love it too, and they take pride in it. I think they understand it, and they’re like, why don’t you make men’s clothes? We need some clothes too,” she says, laughing.
After 15 years, Veronica Swanson Beard is excited to see what’s next, but says, “If it were over tomorrow, I would be very proud of what we’ve done.”
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