WANT LES ESSENTIALS de la Vie

I love this brand - WANT Les Essentials de la Vie. They continue to make classic, amazing quailty products which also manage to have a really contemporary edge to them. This is a favourite of the moment, not so much the actual shape of the shopper but the fact of the exposed iPad case on the front. With a massive trend towards transparency and translucency in bags as you may have seen in some of my previous posts, this pocket is all about exposure.

Every time i open their website, i am completely overwhelmed by the striking beauty and quality of the products they make. They have a masculine but refined feel and from a designer's perspective a real focus on details which make leather goods absolutely sublime.

WANT LES ESSENTIALS de la Vie

CAMO AND SPOTS

Spots and camo merged together here in harmony. Its all about the classic prints at the moment.

Curved edged suitcases. Are these real or is it an effect?

They are in fact real and by french luggage company Moynat
 It is called the Limousine Briefcase with a concave base inspired by the Limousine trunk.

Henrik Vibskov

Henrik Vibskov does some pretty nutty designs, but normally i really love them. These laptop or ipad cases are genius, and especially cool if you are a regular taxi user.

VINTAGE LEATHER BRIEF CASE

I like the look of this vintage leather brief case. Its simple but ticks all the boxes of that vintage variety. The simple corner re-enforcements have a slightly elongated and elegant shape and the radius' are just right. Its another winner from etsy i just stumbled upon looking for something entirely different. I'm glad etsy is based in brooklyn otherwise i would be broke with a room full of bags.

WILLIAMS BAGS

These extra-ordinary bags by Williams British Handmade are by Sarah Williams. Generally the pieces are artworks inspired by vintage bags and made into strange shapes. They utilise traditional craftsmanship techniques and translate them into ultra-modern abstract pieces which seem to tell a strange, fantastical story.


See more of these amazing pieces at: http://www.williams-handmade.com/collections.html


I'm not sure what this bag is designed to carry, maybe a piano accordian?

CHILD LIKE BAGS

These bags from the autumn/winter 2011/12 catwalks are larger than life. The below clutches by Louise Gray are definitely lots of fun and look like they have been designed in some kind of dream state. Puffy handles, patch work materials and paintbox colours which swirl and clash are lots of fun on the catwalk.



The proportions of the handles on this bag combined with the narrowness of the bag makes me laugh.


Its like craft day at kindergarten, but in a wierd way, i sort of like it.


This one here is a real doozy. Its by Jean Paul Gaultier and its basically a fur lined shopping trolley, the kind you see old grannies wheeling around the high street. The bag has been edged with fur in a way which almost looks like it has been edged with pieces of steak - sloppy and shoddily done which gives it a very strange, almost barbaric feel.

TUCH SLEEVES

These are nice. I like the veg tanned leather finish. The leather will age beautifully over time being stained by the natural oils of the skin.


Have a little looky at their other stuff on: http://www.tuchmade.com



Here is the matching iphone case.

JAPANESE WOODEN BAGS

As per usual, i left these images on my desktop for too long and now i have no idea where they came from... aside from that they were taken by a colleague of mine in Japan... so i'm calling them Japanese wooden bags.


They are pretty nutty and slightly architect (my derogatory term for 'over-designed')


... and slightly unuseable. I do think they they are great but i feel sometimes some designers design things for museums and art galleries more so than for real people.

I'm in a slightly off mood today so everything seems to look a bit try-hard.

Oh, just found the info on this brand : http://www.monacca.com/

Bread and Butter Berlin SS10

Reporting LIVE from berlin, i'm at bread and butter, reporting for my company WGSN, looking at trends in footwear and accessories. I thought before popping off to dinner with the girls from WGSN and heading to the Puma Dassler party and a few more, i would post a sneaky one (for all 5 of my blog visitors out there) with some of the cool things i have seen today at the show.


Right now I'm blogging from my hot hotel room. I'm stayng at the arthotel, its a nice place, but the showers are mental. (and i mean that in a bad way) I just spent all day trapesing around a gigantic airport hanger, it was amazing, Bread and Butter has returned to its home - Berlin. It is THE event for streetwear, sports and fashion and its stronger than ever in berlin.

Just to set the scene here are some general pics from the show.


The show actually located in a disused airport - tempelhoff in berlin, its directly out of the 70s and the most amazing location for the show, i can't even describe to you how perfect the setting and organisation was, right down to the very last details. Even the baggage claim conveyor belt was put to good use for displaying hundreds of copies of the Bread and Butter bible for people to take. (or leave seeing they were so bloody heavy!)



Now for the bags...


The guys at the Jack Spade stand were amazing. So nice and polite and really happy to have WGSN on their stand. Their bags were, as expected, such amazing quality, understated but also fashionable in that anti-fashion way. The above bag is a canvas shopper with a rubber base detail the rubber 'dipped' detail makes the bag waterproof , a sort of wellie for a bag, what an amazing idea and the colour blocking works so well.


Orange duffle in tarpaulin material with wide webbing handles, loving the colour! Also by Jack Spade.

Very much in the preppy look that is so hot right now, by Jack Spade.

Jack Spade at Bread and Butter Berlin. Love this yellow piece, it would look super with the new Nixon Rubber player which i also spied today! (see below)

The Rubber Player in yellow by Nixon, my favourite watch brand ever!

Backpack by Japanese brand Onitsuka Tiger. their stand was amazing. it was playing on their japanese heritage with an old japanese lady doing giant oversized calligraphy with brushes the size of brooms. The product was looking really slick, they mainly do footwear and dabble in some apparel but also have some accessories such as this bag which is part of the Tsuri collection inspired by fishing. The footwear including evolved deck shoes and fishing inspired bags and headwear.


Manhattan portage was also showing for the very first time at bread and butter. The brand has not changed much over the last 10 years or so but that is what we love about it so much. They have started a new sub brand called 'token' which is inspired by the tokens used in the new york city subway. the branding is not as slick as i would say the original red label branding but it aims to branch out into a more feminine oriented line, making use of more luxury materials and feminine detailing.

More to come!!!!! I love bread and butter berlin!

Hand made craft accessories

These handmade pieces are taking the fashion world by storm. If your grandmother or mum ever taught you how to crochet, sew or knit , you are all sorted with some amazing little crafty accessories.


They are best teamed up with some high-tech equipment such as an ipod , iphone, blackberry or laptop to emphasise that contrasting vibe. Don't be frightened of making mistakes either, the more wonky and hand made looking the better!


Even this little wristbadn is a gem, found on etsy (who can resist)


Fancy making a trivet to steam punk up your kitchen or dining table?


You don't need an overlocker just some bad tele to sit in front of whilst you make this cosy little jumper for your ipod.


Or if you like things a bit more consistent and you are feeling a bit advanced try out making a knitted laptop sleeve. How fab!

The napBook - Pillow and Bag in one

Its the napBook - a pillow and a laptop bag in one. Designed by icelandic designer Hafsteinn Juliusson, its pretty self-explanatory. Quirky and probably quite protective to your laptop as well.


Visit the website at http://hafsteinnjuliusson.com

FELT Laptop cases

Nice simple laptop cases made from felt by a company called Rare Device.


They also do some nice other bits and pieces so its worth checking out their site.

Men's brief cases - back to business

On and off the catwalk, mens traditional brief cases are making a come back. They are old and worn, or new and shiny. They are made from exotic skins or old worn leather. With a return to a more formal look, brief cases for both men and women will be very popular this winter.

Berlin Streetshot as seen on WGSN

Byblos catwalk spring summer 2009

Milan street shot. I love the hybrid straps merging classic browns with business black

Paris fashion week spring summer 2008

Spotted on the street at Milan fashion week sept 2009

Crumpler Backpacks

Crumpler bags with their humble aussie roots have come a long way since their original camera case collections. Now they really own the messenger market for city bankers aiming for a cool look or someone looking for a good quality functional bag. I love crumpler don't get me wrong, but it seems a shame that they have attracted a very mainstream audience.

Although i'm sure crumpler wouldn't have any problem with that since they have managed to grow from strength to strength. Their bags are very well structured, cleverly designed with alot of thought put into the pattern cutting. Crumpler designers are no.1 in thinking about bags from a tayloring angle.


With a clean and stripped down look, this backpack would not look wrong on the back of a suit or on someone climbing a mountain. My only critique of crumpler bags is sometimes i think they are a little too well made, to the point that they can be overly heavy and over padded for their purpose which at the same time make them very safe and sturdy for all your gear.

Overall its a thumbs up for Crumpler... and thats not only because i'm australian!

Louis Vuitton garbage bag

Its nice to know that LV has covered every corner of the market.