Master-Piece Spring/Summer 2011

Three new subtly-detailed backpacks for trips around town and beyond

For an impromptu weekend trip or to get your Spring bag game tight early, Japanese label Master-piece’s latest collection includes a handful of backpacks that add under-the-radar styling and surprising details. The Over V4 Tyrol (starting at £180) keeps it classic with blue canvas, tan suede and a subtle Navajo-print stripe accent that suggests a family trip to Yosemite in the ’80s. A new take …

Threadless and Baggu

Artist-designed canvas totes offer a fun and colorful alternative to the boring shopping bag

Today Threadless launches ten selected designs printed on Baggu Duck bags. With adjustable straps, snap closures and interior pockets, these canvas bags are large enough to carry groceries and strong enough to safely transport books or a a laptop computer. Designs by Ross Zietz include a rainbow umbrella, a swan music note and his “Infinity MPG” white bicycle. On the bag designed by Andy Gonsalves …

Functional Aesthetics

LED eyelashes, wearable displays and biofeedback accessories in Dr. Sabine Seymour's latest book

Featuring a woven fabric cover embossed with a scannable QR code, Sabine Seymour‘s new book “Functional Aesthetics: Visions In Fashionable Technology” immediately offers a simple proof that textile can be interface. In Seymour’s second book on the subject, the professor and innovator defines fashionable wearables as “designed garments, accessories or jewelry that combine aesthetics and style with functional technology.” Seymour takes a more analog approach …