Toronto designer Sean Brown breaks down the hype behind his impossible-to-get $60 tote bags

Toronto-based designer Sean Brown is no stranger to going viral. In 2020, his painstakingly hand-tufted CD rugs depicting classic hip-hop albums from the early 2000s garnered him a glowing New York Times profile and a rising-star reputation. Since then, his homeware brand, Curves by Sean Brown, has expanded into kooky, tongue-in-cheek objects (like the $230 Inflatable Ego Chair) comparable to something you’d find in the MoMA Design Store. One of these items, a $60 synthetic fabric tote bag emblazoned with “Curves” on the side, has recently experienced a massive surge of demand reminiscent of the mega-popular Telfar bag, nicknamed the Bushwick Birkin.

Brown’s sculptural bag has become nearly impossible to buy, sparking equal parts frustration and longing from customers locked out of the drop cycle. On the brand’s Instagram, the comments section reads like a chorus of near misses. We spoke with Brown about his dedication to approachability, how it felt to go viral and when we can expect further restocks.

You first introduced the bags in 2024. When did they start to take off? By the end of summer 2025, they really hit their stride.

Why do you think they blew up in such a massive way? The tote sits at this intersection of practicality and sculpture: it’s functional but still feels like a design object. Then you layer in personalization and it becomes something genuinely expressive—a canvas people can make their own. There are broader forces at play too. Shifting ideas around luxury, consumption and value all are a part of what makes a thing, well, a thing. But, more than anything, it comes down to timing.

Is it important to you that your designs are approachable? It’s really a pillar of our brand. When we pivoted to homeware—especially during Covid—accessibility felt like a requirement. It was a time when people just needed a little lift at home, and that shaped everything we made.

Ironically, the hype has now made your totes inaccessible. Honestly, it’s something we’re still navigating. We don’t want it to feel like we’re dangling a carrot or intentionally frustrating people. That was never the goal—we’re not interested in a scarcity model. The reality is just that a lot of people want the same thing at the same time, and we’re a small Canadian brand trying to make the process more streamlined.

You initially tried to gatekeep drop dates through your newsletter. Yeah, and that didn’t really work the way we intended. TikTok did what it does. People started sharing the dates, and it quickly grew beyond a direct brand-to-consumer relationship. In some cases, our most loyal customers actually missed out.

What are your thoughts on TikTok being at the centre of the tote’s popularity? Viral spread is just the reality of this generation. Our CD rugs took off on Twitter and Instagram, and now TikTok is the platform driving that. It’s a sign of the times. Emotionally, we’re just grateful it’s happening so organically. You can’t manufacture something like this—it kind of just exists in the ether—and it’s been amazing for us.

How do you feel when you see your bags reselling for upward of $400? It really just reinforces that we need to ramp up production and increase the frequency of drops. That kind of resale market isn’t aligned with our vision—it goes against what we believe the product should be.

There are rumours of drops every two weeks. Is that accurate? That’s roughly true. More accurately, you can expect frequent drops, around twice a month.

What’s on the horizon for Curves? There’s a lot more coming. New colourways for the totes, for sure, but also more experiential projects. We’re doing a pop-up at a gallery in Montreal this summer. It’s a kind of retrospective of our past five years. We’re also looking at collaborating with a hotel in the US and then hopefully heading to Asia.

And finally the question everyone is asking: when’s the next drop? Next week is a safe bet.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.