CELEBRATING BAGS: The ultimate event of the Think Bag competition, sponsored by Leather & Luxury magazine and the Florentine leather goods company Loipell, was held Wednesday in Florence on the Villa Favard campus. The competition involved the scholars of the master in bag design on the Florence-based fashion and design institute Polimoda.

On this occasion, the Choi Bag by the Korean student Daseul Choi was named the winner of the project. 

Choi designed a bag with delicate shapes and an progressive design, in black nappa leather with a steel handle. “For this project I combined my experience in fabrics with a passion for leather and patterns,” said the young designer. “The geometric overlaps of the handle of my bag recall the feathers of a bird, symbol of my brand, while the design pays homage to the breathtaking great thing about the Vatican City seen from above.” 

The award comes with the production of a limited edition of the bag by Loipell to be distributed in September in retail stores equivalent to Mantovani and Playground. Before being up on the market, the bag will likely be presented at Mipel, the handbags and accessories trade show, and Lineapelle, the leather trade show, by Leather & Luxury.

The proceeds from the sale will likely be entirely donated to the Meyer Pediatric Hospital Foundation to support the hospital’s diabetes research. 

Choi can even profit from an internship at British menswear brand Dunhill, which supported the project with a lesson on the creative process held by Attilio Rebuglio, Dunhill’s head of leather goods design, and Nicola Scarpini, leather goods industrial director on the brand.

The Think Bag contest was founded in 2021 to ask young talents to design and create a bag evaluating budgets, timing and difficulties of developing their very own idea and prototype.

During this third edition, begun in February, seven different prototypes were created, each developed by seven students from different countries. Along the best way, the scholars attended workshops held by Florentine corporations which have joined the project, equivalent to Air Collection and Creazioni Lorenza, amongst others. The baggage were presented in front of a jury of experts which included Leonardo Campidelli, chief supply chain officer at Dunhill, and Scarpini.

The jury evaluated the projects under the six criteria of presentation, functionality, design, originality, brand identity and feasibility.