Backpacks that carry a continent
You can rock a backpack made from fabric that has bold and vibrant colours and still be cool, hippie or chic
What you need to know:
Rock it. There is a generation of young designers that create items that are fused with traditions but with a modern edge. You can still rock a backpack made from fabric that has bold and vibrant colours and still be cool, hippie or chic, writes Andrew Kaggwa.
When Black Panther came out in 2018, there was an increased need for many black people to associate with the continent. For instance, many black stars showed up for the premiere wearing their best fabric; Kente, Dishiki and Ankara that ended up splashed in international fashion pages.
And of course the exceptional Daniel Kaluuya donning that tunic and a coat, looking very African and ceremonial owned his Ugandan heritage in a way that made us proud.
But many people in Africa and other parts of the world were on their Wakanda Forever mood, accessorising with each African craft or cloth they laid their hands on.
Of course by this time, throwing fabric on t-shirts was already a thing and in the same vein, men carrying backpacks had been a thing for ages.
The only problem though, even when Africa was getting its way with other wearable things, they were yet to crack the bag code, the best laptop bags were all just...well, ordinary.
Then people found ways around bags, it started with artists pimping already big brands with a fabric in the sides or the handle. Today, they are going as hard as creating original bags with fabric shaped in maps, words and faces.
The bags have since taken over the corporate scene replacing gift bags at conferences and of course, people that usually carry laptops had started using them.
Today, a fabric backpack or cross bag is not as unique, you will easily come across some dude rocking this look with that chic fabric inspired laptop carrier.
And of course those behind such bags note that many of their clients like these bags to spice up an ordinary look; some are fully knitted in fabric while others have modern fabrics such as denim, silk or even leather.
Put your back into it
The word backpack was coined in the United States in the 1910s. Moneybag and packsack were used prior, and now occur mainly as regionalisms.
Backpacks are perhaps the most reliable of all kinds of bags given the space and freedom of movement they offer you.
A backpack—also called knapsack, rucksack, rucksac, pack, sackpack, or backsack—is, in its simplest frameless form, a cloth sack carried on one’s back and secured with two straps that go over the shoulders, but it can have an external frame, internal frame, and there are bodypacks. Backpacks are commonly used by hikers and students, and are often preferred to handbags for carrying heavy loads or carrying any sort of equipment, because of the limited capacity to carry heavy weights for long periods of time in the hands.
