It sounds obvious, but it's easily forgotten. Start with what the bag needs to do
A bag can be beautifully made from extraordinary materials and still be the wrong bag for you.
Start with what you actually carry: phone, wallet and keys, a lipstick and eyeliner? Maybe a small crossbody is enough.
Also need to carry a notebook, water bottle, charger and everything accumulated during an average day? You probably need something larger.
Laptop and work essentials? Maybe a backpack with a separate compartment for your laptop is what you need.
Look at size, capacity and how the weight will be carried.
Going for a weekend away?
The opening, handles, shoulder strap and internal organisation become considerably more important once the bag is full.
We think function should come before decoration.
That's why Minnessak ranges from compact crossbody bags through to larger totes, backpacks and travel bags. Different days require different things.
The best bag isn't necessarily the most impressive one: It's the one you turn to up time after time.
Look beyond the headline material
Materials have become an important part of how bags are marketed.
Recycled. Upcycled. Deadstock. Vintage. Sustainable.
Useful words, perhaps, but only when they tell you something meaningful.
We tend to be more specific.
Our philosophy at Minnessak, is to use materials that already exist, including deadstock MA-1 military flight jackets, deadstock Halley Stevensons dry wax cotton, vintage Italian leather, recycled polyester, repurposed polypropylene straps and deadstock Riri zips.
They're all different materials with different histories, characteristics and purposes so we don't think they should be bundled together under a single convenient label.
Repurposed, deadstock and recycled aren't the same thing
The differences matter.
Repurposed material already exists in another form and is given a new purpose.
Much of the nylon used in Minnessak bags, for example, comes from deadstock MA-1 military flight jackets. We take the jackets apart and use the material to make something new.
Sometimes we retain original details – a seam, pocket or piece of knitted waistband and make them part of the finished bag.
Deadstock material has already been manufactured but hasn't been used for its original purpose.
Our Halley Stevensons dry wax cotton is one example. Rather than commissioning new material specifically for us, we're working with fabric that already exists.
Recycled material has been processed so the material can be used again, as with the recycled polyester in our signature orange lining.
And then there's vintage.
We use vintage Italian leather for handles, bases, pockets and other details across the collection. Its age and existing character are precisely what make it interesting.
None of these approaches makes a bag automatically better. What matters is what you do with the material afterwards.
Sometimes the material has a vote
Working with existing materials changes the design process. If you start with a new roll of fabric, you have a predictable surface. You can place the pattern wherever you want and expect the next roll to be much the same.
Take apart an existing MA-1 flight jacket and things become more interesting. There's already an existing product. There may be pockets, seams, knitted sections, zips and areas of padding. Different jackets can have subtle variations in colour and texture.
So there are choices to make. Remove everything and treat it as anonymous nylon or keep some of that previous life visible?
We prefer to go with the latter, not because every original feature has to survive but because sometimes it adds something useful and gives the finished bag character.
The material doesn't dictate the design but sometimes it has a vote.
Construction matters as much as material
A beautiful material can't rescue a badly constructed bag.
Bags work harder than we sometimes realise. We pull handles, load bases, overfill pockets, open and close zips thousands of times. We also put bags on wet pavements, train floors and airport trolleys.
The important areas aren't always the most photogenic: look at where handles meet the body; look at the base; look at the corners; look at how the strap is attached; look at the stitching around pockets and openings.
These are the places that take the strain.
At Minnessak, you'll find details including strong webbing, vintage leather reinforcement, Riri zips and substantial stitching because they're appropriate to the job the bag needs to do.
The detail should earn its place.
Pay attention to the handles and straps
A bag can look wonderful sitting on a table and be miserable to carry, which isn’t much use.
The larger the bag, the more important its carrying system becomes.
Think about the width of the strap. Whether it's adjustable. How it sits against the body. Where it attaches. Whether the handles still feel comfortable once the bag is full.
On our Tote [Large] 26, for example, repurposed polypropylene handles are finished with vintage Italian leather grips.
There's a reason.
The polypropylene provides strength, the leather makes the part you actually hold more comfortable.
It's a small detail until you've been carrying the bag for an hour. Then it isn't.
Look inside
We spend a surprising amount of time looking at the outside of bags before buying them.
Then we spend most of our ownership putting things inside them.
So open the bag.
Is the interior easy to see? Are there pockets where you actually need them? Can you find your phone, wallet or keys without emptying everything onto a table? Is there somewhere more secure for smaller valuables?
Our orange interiors have become a Minnessak signature but the colour has a purpose beyond being distinctive.
It references the bright orange lining of the MA-1 flight jackets that have influenced much of what we make.
It's also remarkably useful.
Black wallet inside a black bag? Not always easy to find quickly
Against an orange lining it’s a lot easier.
Our Back Up 26 for example, has a Minnessak embossed leather pocket stitched into its recycled polyester orange lining, alongside a separate interior zip pocket.
The main bag closes using a discreet magnetic system sewn into the bag.
Nothing particularly complicated.
Just details intended to make the bag easier to live with.
Good design doesn't need to shout
We're not particularly interested in adding features simply so we can list them.
A complicated closure, more pockets or hardware aren't automatically better.
We prefer details that make sense.
A separate pocket because you need to put something somewhere it’ll be easy to find.
Leather to provide strong reinforcement or give you a comfortable grip.
A zip where security matters or a magnetic closure where quick access makes more sense.
A padded strap where you're likely to carry more weight.
Good design can be remarkably quiet, often you notice it most when something hasn't been designed properly.
Think about how the material will age
A bag doesn't remain new for very long. Nor should it.
Leather softens, dry waxed cotton develops marks and changes through handling, nylon creases. Surfaces pick up evidence of where they've been.
For us, that isn't necessarily deterioration.
We like materials that can gain character through use rather than needing to remain pristine to remain desirable.
There's an important distinction between ageing and failing, of course: a broken handle isn't patina; a failed seam isn't character.
The bag still needs to do its job.
But we'd rather make something that can look good because it has been used than something whose appeal disappears the moment it stops looking new.
Handmade shouldn't mean precious
There's sometimes an assumption that something handmade should be treated carefully. We see it differently.
The care should happen while we're making it, after that, it's your bag. Use it. Put it on the floor. Take it on the train. Carry too much occasionally. Travel with it.
Let the leather change and the dry waxed cotton develop its own marks.
Handmade shouldn't mean fragile. It should mean somebody thought carefully about how the thing was put together.
Made to order is different from small batch
These terms are sometimes treated as interchangeable. They aren't.
Small-batch production means making a limited quantity.
Made to order means making something because somebody has ordered it.
Minnessak bags are individually handmade to order in London.
We don't manufacture hundreds of bags speculatively and hope somebody eventually buys them.
An order comes in. Then we make the bag.
It means you'll wait a little longer – our bags are delivered within three weeks of ordering – but we think there's something refreshingly straightforward about making things this way.
We make what is wanted, when it’s wanted.
Should every handcrafted bag look identical?
Not necessarily. Some degree of consistency matters of course. You should receive the design, dimensions and functionality you were expecting.
But when a maker works with repurposed, deadstock and vintage materials, absolute visual uniformity isn't always desirable – or possible.
The original material may contain variations in colour, texture, grain or detailing.
Vintage leather varies. One section of an MA-1 jacket won't necessarily be identical to another.
We see those differences as part of the finished bag rather than defects to engineer out.
The bag should unmistakably be the design you ordered but it doesn't have to look as though it came from an endless production line.
When you choose a Minnessak bag, you’re choosing your own bag
What makes a handcrafted bag worth keeping?
Craft alone isn't enough. Neither is material.
For us, a bag worth keeping brings several things together.
It has to be useful.
It needs to be comfortable to carry.
The materials need to suit their purpose.
The construction needs to cope with real use.
It should have enough character to remain interesting without depending entirely on a passing trend.
And you need to actually want to use it.
That's the difficult bit.
A beautifully made bag that spends its life in a cupboard hasn't achieved very much.
Seven questions to ask before buying a handcrafted bag
If you're comparing bags online, we'd suggest you ask these:
1. What is it actually made from?
Look beyond broad descriptions and find out what the materials really are.
2. Where is it made?
A good maker should be comfortable telling you.
3. What will you actually carry in it?
Dimensions are useful, but consider depth, empty weight and internal organisation as well.
4. How will it feel when it's full?
Handles and straps become much more important once you've added your belongings.
5. How is it constructed?
Pay particular attention to stress points, closures, corners and the base.
6. How will the materials age?
Think about whether you'll still like the bag after it has acquired some evidence of being yours.
7. Will you actually use it?
Possibly the most important question of all.
What does handcrafted mean at Minnessak?
Minnessak is the Swedish word for keepsake. We want you to love and cherish your Minnessak bag want to keep it forever and we take a lot of care to make it so that it does.
Existing materials. New purpose. Remade in London.
