Rob Ryan

Eastpak Artist Studio

Posted by on Tuesday 3rd December, 2013

Earlier in the year Rob worked with Eastpak to give one of their backpacks a special makeover! Rob was asked alongside 56 other artists from across the globe to customise and unleash his creativity on one of Eastpak’s classic backpacks. The bags have gone on sale this week to raise money for the charity Designers Against AIDS.

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Eastpak Artist Studio is a great on-going project where each year, artists, designers and celebrities are asked to take the iconic Eastpak backpack and use it as a blank canvas to express their ideas. The results are impressive and brilliantly diverse. There were designs which experimented with texture and colour on the bags surface and those which changed the silhouette of the bag entirely, turning it into a birdcage or castle – complete with turrets!

Here is a video showing the process involved in making the bag and Rob’s thoughts about the project too.

The bag is a complete one-off and has hand-stitched embroidery across the front. Rob drew out his words on the bag and worked with Michelle who put her nimble fingers to work stitching each letter and flower in different colours. We asked our brilliant friends at Tatty Devine to kindly cut some vegan leather laser-cut pieces which we attached to the zip pulls.

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The launch of all 56 bags was in Antwerp last week, here are some images of the bag on show.

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All proceeds from the sale of the backpacks go to the charity organization Designers Against AIDS.

Louise Renforth
Studio Assistant