New York, NY · Est. 2018 · Founded by Ali Kaminetsky
Ali Kaminetsky graduated from Lehigh University, moved to New York to work as an assistant buyer, and started bringing her lunch to work every day -- only to realize there was nothing beautiful or functional to carry it in. Her first prototype was made from a Whole Foods paper bag. She launched Modern Picnic in 2018 from her parents' garage and built the lunch bag the fashion industry forgot to make: vegan leather, insulated, wipeable, and chic enough to carry to a board meeting.
Ali Kaminetsky had a simple problem and no good solution. Fresh out of Lehigh University -- where she had captained the Division I tennis team -- she moved to New York, started working in retail buying, and packed her lunch every day because it was faster, cheaper, and healthier. But there was nothing remotely stylish to carry it in. Paper bags. Plastic bags. The same children's lunchboxes that hadn't been redesigned in decades. She built her first prototype out of a Whole Foods bag and started reverse-engineering every tote she owned.
Modern Picnic launched in 2018 with no funding, no connections, and no prior manufacturing experience -- just a clear vision and a shipping operation run out of her parents' garage. The line has since grown into a full collection of vegan leather insulated bags, Snackers, cooler totes, backpacks, and food containers designed to be as thoughtful as anything else a woman carries. Carried at Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale's, Nordstrom, Anthropologie, and Target. Featured on Shark Tank Season 15. On a registry, Modern Picnic is the practical-beautiful category -- the gift a couple actually uses every single day, that somehow always gets compliments.
