Can't Contain Himself

A bag-obsessed designer makes his duffel debut

February 23, 2007—Ross Menuez has designed everything from T-shirts and throw pillows to lamps, but ever since he can remember, bags have been, er, his bag. "When I was little, I always carried bags and I still go to sleep thinking about them," the designer says. While that may sound a little weird to the average non-container-obsessed civilian, the results, which are set to debut this spring at Odin, in New York, are pretty impressive. Sold under the brand Marsupium Bags from Salvor, the carriers evoke the time-tested durability of Marine dry bags. "You can't improve upon that basic design," Menuez says of their shape and waterproof polyurethane-laminate shell. Instead, he has focused on pattern. Among the standouts are the Mount Everest–themed version (above right) and one inspired by Japanese tatami mats (above left), though the basic white isn't bad, either. And knowing that there are backpack guys and there are shoulder-bag guys (and never the twain shall meet), Menuez has designed options for both. "A couple hundred generations ago, you couldn't survive without a good bag," he says. And if he has his way, the same thing will one day be said of the early twenty-first century.

Marsupium Bags from Salvor, from $270, available this spring at Odin, 328 E. 11th St., NYC, (212) 475-0666, www.odinnewyork.com