As a bag designer my warm and fuzzies come from talking about design, inspiration and geeky things like zip brands, coatings, clips and webbing straps. Over the years people have asked me what the bags are inspired by and one of the references i always mention is Japanese School bags - along with retro travel bags.
When i talk about Japanese school bags, i mean these bags which are carried around in Japan often by teenage girls as part of their uniforms. Goodordering definitely draws inspiration from school uniforms - a favourite reference of mine. There is something about the neatness, uniformity and anonymity of uniforms that I love.
Japan is also well known for another type of school bag called the Randoseru which is best known for small kids, they are super boxy and constructed with stiff leather. They are featured a lot in manga and anime. However, the Goodordering version is inspired by these softer shapes, it is a nylon zip close tote bag with a narrow construction. They typically featured double long shoulder straps that allows you to swing the bag over to the back of your shoulder or wear it as a backpack.
The Goodordering version of this bag has shorter shoulder straps to give them a more unisex feel and a detachable adjustable shoulder strap so you can wear it over your shoulder or across the body.
These Japanese school girls are cute, they love personalising their bags with trinkets and also by the way they carry their bags BUT... they also have attitude, creativity and are - like most teenagers - rebellious and independent. These are also important values of Goodordering as a brand.
You can buy this bag in one of four colours - black, green, gray and navy blue here
All of our bags have a design inspiration behind them, we look forward to share the stories of our other bags in future posts. Stay tuned!
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1 comment
Wow! Its a great article about bags that i have read in recent times. I am definitely going to come back for future posts. Keep up the good work. Cheers!