77 Of The Coolest Backpacks You'll Ever See. Eastpak's Artist Designed Bags For Charity.

above and below: the unique artist designed Easpak bags range from goth and edgy to playful.





I once thought Eastpak was just a bunch of utilitarian nylon backpacks and bags, but boy was I wrong. I had not been aware of their numerous collaborations with artists or their huge selection of uniquely designed and patterned bags.



But most interesting is their Eastpak Artist's Studio in which 77 of the most creative personalities from eight different countries (one continent) were selected to produce original creations from a number of limited edition 'blank' EASTPAK bags. The bags were available to bid upon with the proceeds from each donated to various charities.



The artists were selected from different backgrounds and include painters, sculptors and poets as well as musicians, graffiti artists and television personalities. Below I have shown all of the bags and called out some of my personal favorites from each country.



Spain:













Belgium:









Netherlands:









Germany:









Greece:













Italy:









UK:







Hong Kong:













EASTPAK is proud to support this select group of artists and the communities that feed their inspiration. All proceeds of sales of these one-of-a-kind creations were be donated to a local charity organisation in each participating country.



Other Eastpak Designer Collaborations:

In addition to the Artist's Studio project, they have also had collaborations with prominent designers as Raf Simons, Quinze and Milan, Christopher Shannon, Eley Kishimoto Ed Banger and Gaspard Yurkievich and Antoine Peters.



For availability please check eastpak.com.

Bruxe: The Inaugural Collection. Bags, Computer Cases and Backpacks Done Right.

Montreal-based Bruxe Designs has just released a line of bags and backpacks that are akin to the Little Black Dress. Although touted for outdoorsmen, boarders, shredders and categorized under 'men' in stores, these are beautiful for either sex and everyday use. Everyone should have one and it goes with everything.



Capitalizing on the patent trend, the bags are constructed out of laser-cut patent leather mixed with canvas, and their uniformly black exteriors and punchy red interior fabric details emphasize the designers' new approach, creating bags with a slick, low-profile appearance that unobtrusively pack major utilitarian features inside.



Their inaugural collection consists of the following five designs.
The Johnson Computer Pack:





The Greene Three Day Pack:




The Farrington Low Profile Pack:





The Jefferson Rolling Duffel:








and The Lloyd Mac Book Carrier:







Who is Bruxe?


Under their Rekognize Design moniker, Belgian born twin brothers Oli and Mer Van Roost have been designing and marketing backpacks, accessories and apparel for a variety of skate and snowboard companies for 10+ years. But they often had the sense that the crème de la crème of their designs were falling by the wayside. As Oli explains, "I always felt that my most progressive designs were being held back. Clients often chose styles which were closer to what they had seen from other companies as they felt they were less risky." Thus, Bruxe, the brothers' new independently owned streetwear label was born.




Available for purchase at Robust Flavor.



Bruxe design