When they say something is as “light as air”, it is not meant to be taken literally most of the time. But there are indeed some materials now that can be considered almost as light as air or at least the lightest solid material that we can find. One example is NASA’s nanomaterial silica aerogel which they used in their first stardust mission. It has been used in things like thermal insulation, biomedical applications, and some experimentations. But there’s apparently another use for it and that’s for fashion and (sort of) functionality.
Designer: Coperni
Paris-based accessories brand Coperni wanted to create a bag that is very, very light but also would look like it has frozen smoke trapped inside its little space. And they were able to do so with the Air Swipe Bag hiwch they unveiled at the FW24 show. This particular look is made from aerogel since the process it goes through gives it that transparent, smoky color, not to mention how light but non-fragile it is.
It may seem to look like a fragile bag because of its size and its transparency but the material can actually withstand extreme heat (up to 1,200 degrees celsius) and pressure (up to 4000 times its weight). There is a reason after all why NASA brought this to space. The bag also uses 1% glass reinforcement so you might want to be careful where you swing that bag at.
The Air Swipe Bag doesn’t seem to be the most fashionable but it is indeed interesting looking. My main issue is that it’s a tiny bag that may actually only fit my phone in it and barely at that. As a big bag carrier that has a ton of bags inside the bag, I’m wondering if something as light as this could actually work in a bigger size as well.
You might chuckle or even roll your eyes at the so-called social media “influencers,” but it’s actually a lucrative (not to mention addictive) industry. That’s not even considering the new breed of photographers that rely only on their smartphones, plus some specialized lenses, to jump immediately into the middle of an action and not miss a beat by having to take out a bulky DSLR. But despite the popularity of smartphone photography, this market also feels a little underserved judging by the lack of basic accessories like something as simple yet as important as a camera bag. Now the wait is finally over and mobile shutterbugs can now enjoy the freedom and versatility that a dedicated smartphone camera bag offers thanks to Shiftcam’s new Workflow Sling, the first hyperfocused camera bag designed just for smartphone photography.
The reason why some people prefer to capture photos and record videos using a smartphone is the near-instant action and versatility. You almost always have your smartphone with you, whether in your hand or in your pocket, and you can immediately edit and share those photos on social media. In fact, you can livestream directly from your phone, something that’s not easily done with a digital camera. But as your smartphone photography skills get better, you start to need and use more advanced accessories that you can’t easily fit in your pocket. That’s what a camera bag is for, and the Workflow Sling brings that same convenience to smartphones at long last.
It’s more than just a regular sling bag, mind you, because every corner and every feature was designed for people who use their smartphones as cameras. There’s a dedicated “Action Pocket” in the central compartment that makes sure your smartphone is in your hand in a split second. There are also dedicated pockets to keep your smartphone lenses safe and within reach, like the ones you might be purchasing from Shiftcam itself. There’s also plenty of room for all sorts of smartphone photography tools, from a tripod to a drone to even a water bottle to keep you hydrated during your adventures.
The Workflow Sling, however, does more than just hold your phone and its accessories. There’s an innovative MagSafe clip that lets you attach your phone to the strap and on your chest for a dramatic first-person view or in front of the bag, turning it into a makeshift stand. These features clearly mark this accessory as a product that was designed from the ground up to cater to smartphone shutterbugs, delivering the functionality and features that finally put them on the same playing field as the pros with their bulkier, heavier, and more expensive equipment.
Over the past years, we’ve seen a lot of “old” things becoming hip again. For young ones who weren’t even born when certain fashion items became popular back then, they found these things to be cool and cute. Even gadgets and devices from the 90s and aughts are enjoying a resurgence, even though the current purpose is much more different than the original. We’re seeing items designed like cassette tapes, vinyl players, and now, even the classic CD player has been repurposed.
Desginer: Coperni
The Parisian designer label Coperni has looked to the aughts for design inspiration for their latest Swipe bag iteration. The CD-PLAYER Swipe bag looks just like the silver metallic CD players that became popular back then when we still had CDs to play our music. But this one won’t be able to bring your old Britney Spears CD to musical life even though the bag does come with wired headphones.
The handbag has the faux CD player as its main body with a metallic plated handle so you can carry it around. There are also realistic looking buttons and a small display to really make it look like the CD player, although what these buttons do remains to be seen. And as mentioned, it comes with wired headphones to complete your retro look. But it also is not clear what the headphones are for.
The bag also has a USB-C-chargeable battery so maybe there is indeed a music component that will be revealed. My main concern though is what can actually fit in the bag since the CD player compartment is pretty small. But those who have been using the iconic Coperni Swipe bags are those that can fit everything they need in tiny purses anyway.
For many of us, our dogs are not just pets; they are cherished members of our families. We love taking them along on our adventures, but it can be a bit of a hassle carrying all their essentials like treats, toys, and poop bags. Imagine if your beloved furry friend could carry their stuff stylishly and practically. Well, Japanese brand Tsuchiya Kaban has come up with a creative solution – a leather dog backpack that allows your dog to tote around their essentials with panache.
Tsuchiya Kaban is known for its quirky and innovative bag designs, such as ones meant for holding snowmen or watermelons. Now, they’ve turned their attention to a different type of companion – our dogs. The design of this miniature carry-on backpack draws inspiration from Japan’s iconic ‘randoseru,’ the traditional school backpack commonly worn by students. It’s a thoughtful nod to Japanese culture and a perfect fusion of tradition and modern pet accessory design.
The history of the randoseru, the traditional Japanese school backpack, is a fascinating tale rooted in both culture and fashion. Its origins date back to a significant moment in Japanese history when the crown prince of the time received a distinctive backpack upon entering elementary school at Gakushūin. In tribute to the country’s soldiers, this backpack was designed to resemble the military’s rugged and sturdy backpacks. This noble gesture soon captured the imagination of the public, and the backpack’s unique shape swiftly became a fashionable statement. Over time, the design has evolved and adapted, but the essence of honoring Japan’s military heritage remains embedded in the modern randoseru, inspiring Tsuchiya Kaban’s innovative leather dog backpack, which pays homage to this iconic Japanese tradition while catering to our beloved four-legged friends.
What makes Tsuchiya Kaban’s leather dog backpack truly special is the choice of material. The high-quality leather used in crafting the backpack matures beautifully over time. This maturation process symbolizes the growing bond between a pet and its owner, making it a sentimental and meaningful accessory for any dog lover.
Tsuchiya Kaban understands that your dog’s comfort is paramount. The backpack is attached to an adjustable leather harness designed to fit snugly on your dog’s back. The straps, made of durable nylon, ensure that neither your dog nor you will experience any strain during walks or adventures. The cleverly designed buckle allows for easy adjustment, ensuring a perfect fit every time, regardless of your dog’s size or shape.
For those leisurely walks or spontaneous runs with your furry friend, an optional leash can be directly attached to the backpack. This feature ensures that your dog stays safe and secure while still enjoying the freedom of movement.
The stylish leather dog backpack by Tsuchiya Kaban launched on December 14, 2023, and is available online.
Tsuchiya Kaban’s leather dog backpack is not just a practical solution to carrying your dog’s essentials; it’s a statement of style, tradition, and the unbreakable bond between you and your furry friend. With its thoughtful design and high-quality materials, this backpack ensures both your comfort and your dog’s happiness. So, if you want to add a touch of elegance to your dog’s outings while making life a bit easier for yourself, consider investing in this unique pet accessory. Your dog will undoubtedly appreciate the extra attention and care you’re showing them, and you’ll enjoy the convenience and style this innovative backpack provides.
The recent pandemic really threw a wrench into the established machinery of the world, both office and school. Never mind how unprepared most people (especially bosses) were to bring their work home with them, many didn’t even have a spare table to use as a work desk. Sure, you could temporarily use any table, usually the dining table, as your home office, but the mess and cleanup that such an ad hoc system entails only adds to the stress of an already stressful situation. Although the world has largely gone back to normal, work-from-home arrangements have become just as normal, even if less available, so the need for a portable workstation hasn’t exactly gone away. Accordingly, there are quite a few products designed to address that need, but this rather sizable briefcase probably takes the cake in terms of versatility and oddity.
Taking work home is nothing new, of course. Attache cases and laptops were designed to make it possible to carry your work with you, but those still required that you have some sort of office setup to be productive. Yes, you could technically put some laptops on your lap, but not all work can actually be done on a computer. That’s not even considering how some people need not only other tools but also sources of inspiration to get them into a more productive and creative mood. If only you could actually bring your office desk anywhere with you, without actually bringing your office desk.
The Worky Home Office is a product that attempts to do exactly that, within some saner limits, of course. Not only can it hold your 15-inch laptop, it also has plenty of space for your important stationery. There’s even a built-in magnetic dry-erase board for notes, sticky notes, and photos. There’s also an LED strip around the edges of the top half to light up your face during video meetings, and a four-port power strip for charging your devices.
The idea is to have a miniature version of your office desk or at least some semblance of it, that you can quickly set up on any table without worrying about leaving a mess that you need to clean up afterward. Simply close the laptop (and put it back in the strap), close down the lid, and you’re good to go. Any space in your house can become your temporary office, including the bed and the couch.
Admittedly, the Worky Home Office isn’t exactly as portable as a laptop in a big bag, and some wouldn’t be caught dead using such a gargantuan contraption in public. Of course, it can hold and do a lot more than a regular bag or briefcase, and the heft and awkwardness are the figurative price you have to pay for that convenience. As for the literal price, the Home Office goes for $149.99, which is a serious investment for such a portable but quirky office desk.
Designed to be classy enough for the conference room, and spacious enough for the locker room, the FTL merges the office briefcase with the gym and travel duffle to give you something entirely different. Dubbed as an All-In-One bag, the FTL can go everywhere you go, and has just the right amount of compartments to carry a slice of life with you to work, to play, or even to travel.
The FTL was created by New-Yorkers Xander Chase and Ryan Lane as a result of seeing too many people carry and own separate bags for separate parts of their life. You had your work briefcase, your gym duffle, your travel carry-on, and just on a logical level, they thought there had to be a better way. Created as a one-bag-fits-all solution to urban life’s unique problem, the FTL embodies the spirit of New York in many ways. It’s aesthetic, is fit for any setting, and is designed in a unique way to accommodate all of your belongings in a way that makes it perfect for the fast-paced lifestyle.
The FTL’s design has a unique appearance, given that it looks like a briefcase from the sides, but is wide enough to really fit the requirements of being a duffel too. It sports two handles that let you carry it around like a briefcase but has that signature shoulder strap so you can roam around hands-free, as well as a trolley sleeve that lets you secure your FTL to your travel case while scuttling through the airport. The bag’s size makes it the perfect flight cabin travel companion, gives you dedicated, quick access to your laptop during TSA security checks, and it’s just thin enough to slide right under your airline seat during take-off and landing.
Separated Laptop Sleeve
30 Liters of Volume Airplane Personal Item Compliant
Custom Removable Garment Bag
Fold Out Packing Cube
Trinket Pocket
The FTL combines three distinct bags into its form – the work briefcase, the garment bag, and the sports/gym duffle. The three personas co-exist rather wonderfully within the FTL’s well-compartmentalized design. You’ve got an exterior padded sleeve that’s perfectly sized for a laptop, a drop-down compartment with secure straps to hold your garments in place, and 30 liters of internal storage for everything from chargers and EDC to towels and water bottles. A dedicated shoe compartment on the front lets you store your shoes within the FTL too, keeping them separate from the rest of your belongings. Moreover, FTL’s makers also designed matching Dopp kits for your toiletries that fits right inside the FTL’s spacious storage, and a faux-leather luggage tag to attach to your bag’s strap, both available as add-ons to the original bag.
Aside from having the coolest names ever, Xander Chase and Ryan Lane also have a great sense of intuition when it comes to bag design. With their finger on the pulse of fashion and function, Chase and Lane happen to have made the perfect bag for the urban dweller… something Chase and Lane heard from more than 350 of their existing customers. The FTL emphasizes material, with a unique vegan leather this is both water resistant and durable and YKK AquaGuard zippers throughout the bag. The bag, which starts at an incredibly affordable $199, comes in three colors – Kenmare Black, Abbot Green, and Essex Blue, and ships globally.
It’s no longer unusual for people to carry laptops in their bags, whether they sling them over their backs or hang them over their shoulders. Most of these people probably don’t give a second thought to the overall design of these bags, focusing simply on how they look to make a good impression in public. The novelty of appearances, however, easily wears off once discomfort and inconvenience creep in, often leading to buyer’s remorse. Even worse is the horror of realizing that your bag may have been stolen or left behind somewhere, including your precious laptop and other properties. With a new trend in people’s lifestyles, it is high time for accessories such as bags to get an upgrade in order to better serve their owners. That’s exactly what the HyperPack Pro brings to the table, offering not only smart charging pass-throughs and battery pack pockets, but also security and peace of mind to modern-day workers and creatives.
Many backpacks today have a pocket for laptops, but these are often designed so simplistically and flimsily that they offer nothing more than just a thin separator between the laptop and everything else in the bag. Those that do have proper compartments for these computers, however, tend to neglect the other things you might want to carry with you. Some even neglect the wearer itself, forgetting that the humans carrying the bag on their backs might be even more fragile than what the bag contains.
Locate your HyperPack Pro from anywhere using Hyper’s built-in Apple® Find My Compatible Location Module.
Enter the HyperPack Pro with Apple Find My compatibility, a traveling partner designed for the needs of today’s on-the-go professionals. Of course, there’s a dedicated pocket big enough for a 16-inch laptop, and its soft suspended design protects your precious laptop not just from scratches but also from dents. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, though, because the HyperPack Pro has so much more to offer, both inside and outside.
Strategic Charging Pockets & Passthroughs
Secure Interlocking Zippers
Water-resistant 1260D Cordura and YKK Aquaguard Zippers
With its 22L capacity, there’s plenty of room for everything you need in a day, and there is even a dedicated place for credit cards and passports inside the internal RFID Theft Protection Pocket. A hidden lumbar pocket also lets you easily stash and access critical items like cash, passports, keys, and the like. There’s a 1L water bottle pocket at the side to help keep you hydrated while preventing accidental spills inside. HYPER also uses the strategic placement of charging pockets and cable pass-throughs so that you can easily top up your gadgets without having them jumble around inside the bag’s spacious interior.
The HyperPack Pro’s signature feature, however, is in the other half of its name. Rather than having to fiddle with a third-party gadget or accessory, this innovative backpack has built-in support for Apple’s Find My network, allowing you to more easily locate the bag if you happen to lose it for one reason or another. They say prevention is better than cure, and the HyperPack Pro follows that adage by instantly alerting you if you stray too far from your bag or vice versa. Even better, that built-in tracker is powered by a replaceable CR2032, so you won’t have to worry about “recharging the bag” regularly.
All of these features are packed in a backpack that’s designed not only for convenience but also for security and comfort. Interlocking zippers will keep thieves off your back, literally and figuratively, while the YKK water-resistant zippers and a weather-resistant 1260D Cordura Nylon exterior protect it from unexpected rains and spills. Last but definitely not least, the triple-padded AirFlow System promises maximum support while letting your back remain cool, no matter the load. For only $120, the HyperPack Pro with Apple Find My compatibility definitely feels like a steal that easily pays for itself with the security and power that it offers.
If you don’t go to the beach often, you probably do not invest that much into buying beach accessories that are meant only to be used occasionally. But what if it’s something that you can use both when you go on your seaside vacations or when you’re just living your life in the concrete jungle? And what if they’re actually well-designed and even better, what if they sport an eco-friendly and sustainable design? This collection is all of the above and may interest both casual beachgoers and city living individuals.
Designer: William Ellery by Trevor Davis
The Beachcomber Gear is a collection created in small batches for those who would like to have beach accessories that they will also be able to use even when they’re not by the sand and the sea. The collection is made up of two items for now although they will probably be adding even more items later on. Not only are these multi-purpose accessories, they are also created from sustainable materials like vintage materials or garments that are also meant to last long.
The Seatpack is an inflatable chair that you can use to hang out by the sea if you prefer not to have the sand creeping into your unmentionables. It is meant to be used around sand and water and not have that much wear and tear on the beach, including protection from rust. It actually has a fabric anchor so it will not be easily blown away if the wind is strong. It’s portable and easily inflated and deflated and has a nylon tensioning strap to adjust firmness. And if you’re not at the beach, it can be used as an extra seat in your living room, bedroom, or even office space.
The Beachcomber Bags have a water beading mesh so it can protect your belongings from sand and water but is also not that transparent unlike other beach bags. This means it can also be for every day use in case you feel like having a beach-like aesthetic when going to the mall or even for your school or office needs. Having things that can be used not just for the beach but also for when you’re not on vacation will help reduce waste and consumption.
Because these truly are the end times we’re living in, New York City-based fashion designer Thom Browne has created the Rat Pebbled Bag, a leather bag in the form of a rat. Available from Farfetch for the equally farfetched price of $3,390, the bag begs the question – is this considered haute couture or raute couture?
If the model is any indication, you’ll also need a kilt, dress shirt and tie, lace-up boot-shoes, and an overcoat to complete the rat bag ensemble. I can already close my eyes and imagine myself wearing it all – my friends and family whispering to one another that I’ve finally gone off the deep end.
When reached for comment about the bag, Master Splinter told me he felt it was in poor taste. Granted, he’s been wearing the same tattered kimono for his entire mutant life and lives in the sewers with a bunch of turtle vigilantes, but I trust his judgment.
Pockets. Sometimes you’ve got them, sometimes you don’t, sometimes you wear a jacket and leave stuff in the pockets only to discover them a year later. Or sometimes you’ve got just enough pockets that you need to put your smartphone along with your keys, leaving them vulnerable to scratches. This isn’t really a referendum on pockets, it’s sort of a scenario-building effort that makes the Moshi Crossbody Phone Holster look like a pretty sensible product to have. If you’re running low on pockets, or if you identify as a hipster who doesn’t believe in sticking to conventions, Moshi’s vegan-leather crossbody holster gives you a perfect spot to stash your phone as well as cards and cash. The holster sits diagonally around your torso and makes it much easier to access your phone and cards while on the go. It also makes you look like a bit of an avant-garde person of culture.
Designed in California (quite like the iPhone shown inside it), the Moshi Crossbody Holster is a slick little piece of EDC that carries your phone as well as your cards. Perfect when you want to head out for a quick coffee run or to meet a friend (when you don’t need to carry anything more than your phone, wallet, and keys), the Crossbody Holster serves as a pretty stylish fashion accessory that’s just as functional.
The holster comes built out of vegan leather and is wide enough to hold all sorts of phones (from the smaller ones to the larger Pro/Max/Plus ones too). A bifold-style magnetic flap on the front lets you store 3 cards for easy access, which means you don’t really need to splurge on a MagSafe wallet that may accidentally slip off your phone.
The vegan leather build is weather-resistant and abrasion-resistant. It even comes with an anti-bacterial NanoShield coating to kill germs upon contact, and is equipped with an adjustable and removable crossbody strap. For now, the Moshi Crossbody Phone Holster comes in just black (although I’d love to see spunky color variants), and like all of Moshi’s products, is backed by a 2-year warranty. However, if you buy the holster of Moshi’s website, it automatically gets enrolled in Moshi’s 10-year Global Warranty Program.
Compatible Location Module.
