A Kind of Guise are a brand that specialise in menswear, but their bags are great unisex pieces imitating an ethnic mood and are crafted from the finest of leather. My favourite bags are part of the Kilim Project which are reminiscent of the vintage backpacks made of a tapestry material; sort of like your grandmother's moth-eaten couch. By that euphemism I mean it in the most charming and endearing manner because the materials used for these bags are not recycled second hand goods.
The patterns of the materials as well as the texture is really quite popular in terms of the festival scene, and the structure of the bag is a kind of a bucket shape, with a flattened bottom made of the finest leather and a trim around the edge and the rest of the Kilim Project bags are made from hand knitted carpets. Although the patterns don't have a specific nationality or ethnic pattern to them, the use of hand knitted carpets as a material really reminds me of luxurious Persian goods. There's also a leather pocket in the interior of the bag to keep your keys and mobile phone safe and another feature is the cotton straps and drawstring rope at the top of the bag.
The bags are each an individual piece and all of them are already sold out on the A Kind of Guise website, fetching 280 Euros each, the equivalent of $360 Australian. I do love the design and shape of the bags as well as the hand weaved carpet but I personally wouldn't be willing to part with so much money for a bag of this shape; I'd like to see myself using hand bags more at this stage of my life and getting a little more mature rather than reverting back towards backpacks.
Boasting a length of 60cm and a width of 25cm, the bags are perfectly suited towards days of fun in the sun, particularly if you're Australian and there are lots of Summer music festivals to look forward to in the coming weeks and months. Made of 100% leather and wool, there's no expenses spared in the crafting and creation of these bags making them built to last and durable in some of the most luxurious materials money can buy. Just look at the rich chocolate brown colour of the leather on the bag above in contrast to the different and intricate patterns of the wool carpet.
My favourite design of all the bags and the one I regret not being able to get my filthy mitts on is the rose motif bag in contrast to the leather at the bottom of the bag. The contrast of white, green and red is also very festive and suitable for this time of year and I would have loved being able to wear this bag around my back or shoulders but alas, someone else got to it first and now I just have to sit and wait around to see if a similar bag with a floral motif will be created. I'm not holding my breath or anything but I am hopeful and trying to be optimistic. It's just a really gorgeous, feminine and romantic bag and a great gift for Valentine's day if there was a bouquet of roses hiding within the pouch of the bag as well.
Like a lover whispering comforting words in your ear, on each of the Kilim Project bags as part of a Kind of Guise range is the leather badge with the words AKOG and 'No worries, We've done this before'. How cheeky but slightly iconic. I like the close up photographs of the quality of the bags rectangle logo as well as the detail of the knotted wool all done by hand. It's enough to give you sympathy pains and arthritis just looking at the detail and love that has gone into each of the bags.
More of the great detail of each of the roses and leaves for my favourite bag of the Kilim Project, just named '33/100'. It makes me heart ache a little knowing that each of the bags made is unique and individual and that my favourite bag off all of them has already been sold. There will be more of the bags coming soon and the website advises fashion hungry masses that they are temporarily sold out and more will be coming but I'm not too sure as to what other flowers may be knotted in carpet and then chopped into making fashionable bags. It would have been nice and I would have worked to buy it, but it's gone and there's nothing more that can be done about it. Wearing it around town in a long black dress would have been great though, to make the contrasting colours of red and green stand out even more. The shade of leather in the deepest and dark brown would have also suited my long dark hair and brown eyes but if I am lucky they will incorporate this shade of brown leather in a future bag.
A close up detail of the clean cotton cords used to tie up the Kilim Project bags for AKOG and keep everything neat and tidy in your bag without things spilling out. My favourite bags are the ones that have a matching leather used with the hand knitted carpet; the overall look seems so much better for it and there's unity promoted by matching the wool and leather colours. You can't have it all though and the patterns of the wool as well as the high-standard of their creation are breath-taking when seen from up close, I can only imagine that running your hands over it in person would be an even better experience to the touch as well as the aesthetics of the bags.
Your limited edition and one-of-a-kind Kilim Project bag comes with its own dust-cloth bag featuring a drawn carpet like the one your new bag is made out of. I can't wait to see their stock be refilled and more of these great bags put out using their high-quality leather and wool carpets. It's not often you see a vintage style of bohemian backpacks recreated to such a high-standard and aimed at the festival target audience. If anyone from their company is reading this I do hope you make more of the rose bag or feature floral patterns; their not just for guys, girls love these kind of bags too!
