When Seattle-based Kimberly Baker, a prodigious jewelry designer with a knack for blurring the line between dainty and devilish, natural and supernatural, ethereal and eerie, recommended I explore the work of her handbag designer friend Jessica Park, I didn't hesitate to do so. After all, as an ambassador of cool, Baker can certainly vouch for a fellow designer with a unique point-of-view and an unconventional aesthetic. Sure enough, Park's Ampersand AS Apostrophe line veered away from traditional handbag precepts by using sturdy but weathered, century-old, English mail bags as the building blocks for her glamorous but rustic designs. By mixing leather and canvas materials, relying on zippers and pockets for an industrial edge, and toying with the overall structure to make the bag's more malleable, Park managed to take existing materials and breathe new life into them, thereby showing the endless possibilities for reinvention unlocked by a truly vast imagination.
Ampersand AS Apostrophe's new Aztec collection builds upon the momentum established by its predecessor, the Mailbag collection, but ups the ante with an earthy, Bohemian-flavored graphic print steeped in ancient Mesoamerican iconography. The collection consists of a fold-over, envelope-shaped wallet with a removable zip pocket and multiple slots for checkbooks, credit cards, and photos; as well as the above pictures parcel bag.
Measuring 14" in width and 15" in height, the Aztec Parcel Bag features a hide and pebbled leather facade that toys with notions of texture, while the camel brown, cream and black colors used in the Aztec print lend the bag a free-spirited, primitive, primordial feel. The print itself seems to nod to ancient Aztec cultural contributions such as the pyramid in St. Cecilia Acatitlan in Mexico or the sun stones used as calendar systems. The versatile bag can be worn as a cross-body purse (thanks to the adjustable metal chain) or shoulder bag, and it can be folded over for use as an under-arm tote or clutch. The zippered edges, meanwhile, add an urban sensibility, toughening up the more rural qualities of the design.
Bottom line: it's the Quetzalcoatl of handbags, a shining deity of dash and panache.
Ampersand AS Apostrophe Aztec Parcel Bag, $900. Available at AmpersandASApostrophe.com
