marcel wanders on luggage design for fabbrica pelletterie milano

‘saint-jacques’ by marcel wanders for fabbrica pelleterie milano

designboom talks with dutch designer marcel wanders about ‘saint-jacques’, his collection of suitcases for italian luggage and bag company fabbrica pelleterie milano (read more about ‘saint-jacques’ in this designboom article).

the functional needs of a suitcase are among the most demanding of common objects, and wanders reflects on the need, in collaboration with fabbrica pelleterie milano, to consider values as diverse as the range of aesthetic approaches of individuals, the material demands of traveling, and increasingly stringent airline size and weight restrictions. as a result, the series of trolleys features smooth-rolling silicon wheels and is composed of a highly lightweight but rigid material, whose rounded, three-dimensional surface makes dents and scratches less visible and eases the removal of stickers.

marcel wanders with ‘saint-jacques’ small trolley in milan, october 2011

marcel wanders: ‘durability has been a key factor all my life and I think especially for suitcases it’s something of importance. it is why I try to bring inside the object my respect for old things and my respect for new things and combine them. there is nothing which grows old more fast than the new. and it is the reason why I am building inside objects old metaphors, which makes an object resistant to ‘new old metaphors’, like a scratch, so it is able to grow old more gracefully.‘

marcel wanders discusses the importance of surface in his design, and in the contemporary need to rethink ‘newness’ video © designboom

marcel wanders discusses the need to design with the diverse approaches of individuals in mind video © designboom

transcription of video above:‘I would like to make objects that are meaningful for as many possible different people. so if I make an object, I do study the visual quality and the meaning, I do study the rational quality and meaning, I do study the tactile and the emotional quality and meaning of things, to make sure that for everybody there’s something inside that is meaningful and valuable and something they can read as a part of their world and they feel connected to it. and I think with most of my objects, in a sense sometimes I’m looking to find ways [for me] to connect to other areas.‘

‘saint-jacques’ image © designboom

top view, saint-jacques image © designboom

detail view, saint-jacques image © designboom