A women’s sling bag came out of nowhere. I was doing some sampling for a men’s sling bag project and was given some direction to make a smaller one. The floating front pocket was something I kept from the men’s idea, where I like the idea of being able to put something like a shirt through the sides and have it hanging so you have more room in the bag.

As the smaller version of the bag started to materialize, I noticed that the detail in the front made it look sort of like something from my childhood. An onigiri is a popular Japanese snack food, and something that was referenced frequently in the Japanese cartoons I watched growing up. I decided to double down on this shape and did some sampling to find a nice balance between the typical triangular shape of this delicious rice ball, and a functional bag shape. I’ve found that depending on the type of leather I use, it leans more in one direction or the other.

I keep talking about how this is a women’s offering, but I might just make one for myself…