As a cook, food stylist and cookbook author, a major part of my professional life is spent carrying things between home, supermarkets and my workshop. In my daily life, on the other hand, I keep carrying things all the time while hosting my guests, taking the stuff I have cooked to my friends, taking my children to practices, going to workouts, doing shopping, going to the seaside, etc. Therefore, it has always been very important to me how I prefer to carry things.
Without giving up my natural look or making any compromises with my style, I decided to pursue a solution which makes it possible for me to organize my belongings functionally, distributes the weight evenly to my arm and has an easy-to-clean interior. Moreover, I aimed to ensure that the bags we design according to these needs and tastes of mine are gender-neutral and versatile pieces which may minimize the use of plastic bags. Even though the bags have a production-related carbon footprint, it was possible for us to maintain a more sustainable approach for our world and resources because they can be cleaned simply by wiping, instead of frequent washing, thanks to their removable and wipeable interior. This has brought us closer to our goal of taking a responsible stance in the production – consumption cycle.
WHY DO THEY ONLY MAKE FOUR-CORNER CLOTH BAGS THAT DO NOT HAVE ANY FUNCTIONS? I REMEMBER THE FIRST DAY I SAID “I AM DREAMING OF A CLOTH BAG BUT AN ELABORATE ONE, AND I EVEN WISH IT WAS STRIPED”.
We have experienced throughout this process why it does not happen and what a difficult task we had undertaken. I learned that those who produce cloth bags at a fast pace did not have experience in the category of functional “women’s bags” made of leather or other materials. On the other hand, those producing in the category of women’s bags do not have cloth sewing machines and they work with completely different techniques that involve bonding. I witnessed that everybody runs away if you start your words saying “To make our design unique, we want to bring together various fabrics and have symmetrical lines sown. Moreover, each product will be popped to each other and its label must be symmetrical to the lines.”:) However, at the end of the day, even though it took us months to find the best-quality snap fasteners, we managed to get to where we are in these non-categorical products by not making any compromises with our insistence on zippers bearing logos or our wishes as to many details such as thick handles with special patterns.
Thanks to the life-saving wipeable bag which can be fixed with snap fasteners in Simple Pleasures 2 in 1 Big Bag, you can easily carry anything that has the risk of leakage or moisture. All the shopping from markets/supermarkets, fresh flowers, or sneakers while returning from workout, even wet towels, food, water bottles while returning from the beach in summer… When you do not want to use this wipeable inner bag, you can easily remove it and fix in it your Simple Pleasures 3 in 1 Keychain Clutch bags and your keychain facing each other. I put my tablet in the large Clutch, my wallet and supermarket receipts in the medium one, and my mobile phone in the smallest one. This solves the everlasting problem of looking for my keys, wallet and mobile phone after shopping.
You may also use the Simple Pleasures 3 in 1 Keychain Clutch singly, by fixing the keychain on its back in this case, while going to drink coffee, or as an organizer in all your large bags. In this way, all the things I need to have with me can be with me without “the trouble of changing bags”. I would also like to remind that the Clutch set fits perfectly sideways into the Simple Pleasures Double-Sided Medium Bag.
Simple Pleasures Double-Sided Medium Bag, on the other hand, is exactly a second bag that is ideal for every day. It helps me daily with its front pocket for mobile phones and wallets while carrying my water bottle and computer in it. Since we have designed it as a 2-way bag, you will be able to use its pockets in the inner side as well when you turn it inside out and prefer the side made entirely of denim.
These bags, which we want you to choose according to your needs and mood on a specific day, provide various ways of carrying and will all be sent to you with a raw cloth bag case that has a natural rope. While producing these cloth bag cases, we aimed to reduce the consumption of boxes, papers and plastic bags by avoiding sending our bags in these materials. We have only provided the option to use boxes for gifts. Instead of packaging materials that you will throw away after opening the pack, you may enjoy using this case, in which you may keep your bags clean, also inside your bags.
I hope that the routines of daily life create the feeling of a functional and modest luxury for anybody who would like to add some joy to their everyday responsibilities…
Ece Zaim
