Mon Purse CEO Lana Hopkins is stepping back from the day-to-day running of the customisable handbag business she founded to pursue a new venture.

Hopkins will remain on the board and keep her position as a significant shareholder of Mon Purse, but she will hand over the reins as CEO in the near future.

“I started thinking about this new venture late last year…it’s been playing on mind, which is why I took it upon myself to find an executive chairman to take the business forward without me,” Hopkins told Inside Retail on Thursday.

Incoming chairman, Toni Fourie will lead the search for a new chief executive.

Hopkins said her departure will be coming in the near future and is not connected to the appointment of a new CEO.

Since starting the ‘build-your-own-bag’ business in 2014, Hopkins has grown the online-only brand into a global, multi-channel company, with standalone stores in Sydney and New Jersey in the US, and concessions in Australia, the UK and US.

“We’ve achieved so many new things and grown really rapidly – that is something I’m incredibly proud of the team and all the shareholders for,” she said.

“This is an opportunity to say, ‘I have a great team in place who can take it to the next level operationally’. It gives me the confidence to pursue something new.”

This article has been updated to clarify that the search for a new CEO has not yet begun and to correct an incorrect statement that Hopkins is the majority shareholder of Mon Purse. She is a significant shareholder.

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