The symbol of school years and travellers, the backpack has now found its place in the menswear wardrobe of the 21st century, maturing along with its consumer, leaving behind its youthful, carefree connotations and instead advancing itself as an iconic balance between form and function.
Forbes & Lewis | Poler Stuff | Hunter | M.R.K .T
At Jacket Required we looked at leather trims and block colouring, as well as the increasing range of lifestyle-focused products from stationery to grooming, complementing the day-to-day backpack.
Sandqvist | Men's Society
Poler Stuff | L:A Bruket - Apothecary & Barbershop Supply Co. | Portland England - Men's Society
Hunter | Landscape by Danzo - Notable Designs
"Maybe I am a more-than-average backpack nerd, but I can remember most of the backpacks I have owned in my life. The first one was a Fjällräven Kånken. My mother bought light blue for me and red for my younger brother, I think I was nine – so it was likely in 1979. It must have had some serious impact on me, as 25 years later I started a bag company, and although Sandqvist have created a few iconic backpacks through the years, it is truly difficult to compete with the Kånken in that sense.
"After the Kånken, which I used as a school bag up until 5th grade, came the Salomon. The Salomon backpack was a huge trend in Sweden in the 80s. It had a similar rectangular shape to the Kånken – but was more 'branded' therefore cooler. At the time there were basically just two pop-cultural movements for teenagers, heavy metal and new romantic. No matter whether you were into metal or liked Duran Duran, the Salomon backpack was mandatory, with the only difference that the metal kids tagged upside-down crosses on theirs.
"For a dark period in upper secondary school (Gymnasiet as we say in Sweden), I didn't use backpacks unless I was out hiking – which, as it was in my bohemian period, wasn't much at that time of my life. Instead, I used an old briefcase from a second-hand store, I remember it smelled like a mix of leather and death. After I finally got my degree and headed straight into a career, I had a nylon briefcases for several years. In the late 90s and early 00s, nobody would even think of wearing a backpack with a suit, and very rarely to work at all.
"When 2004 arrived, I jumped off the career ladder and founded Sandqvist as a protest against there being only ugly and boring bags available in a reasonable price range. A few years later, in 2009, Sandqvist invented the heritage backpack with the model Roald. And now we (I now have 25 colleagues in the company so it isn't just me anymore) are one of the companies contributing to the contemporary street look with all the new bags and items we design. Me, I am still using my Roald (the 2016 version – the best and a classic) and have very little drive to change it... I'm afraid it means I am now middle aged?"
- Anton Sandqvist, founder of Sandqvist
Forbes & Lewis | Men's Society | Marvis by Apothecary & Barbershop Supply Co.
Ucon Acrobatics
M.R.K.T | L:A Bruket - Apothecary & Barbershop Supply Co.