In conjunction with the upcoming holiday season, TUMI Malaysia unveiled an exclusive Asia Designers Capsule Collection – eight (8) customized designed tote bags by Asia’s leading creative designers and artists to create a unique set of products that will enhance their customers’ travel experience during the holiday season.
TUMI Malaysia launched the capsule collection following a preview of the brand’s Spring 2016 Collections last week at its flagship store in KLCC. Melinda Looi, one of the designers of the capsule collection, representing Malaysia, made a special appearance at the event.
Asia Designers Capsule Collection by TUMI
The Asia Designers Capsule Collection is exclusively customized by seven cutting-edge designers and artists from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam. Each designer was tasked with creating a unique print based on inspiration of culture or travel for TUMI tote bag. TUMI’s design team created an eighth bag with the brand’s customer, the Global Citizen, as the key inspiration.
The design of each designer is featured on both sides of the tote bag, which also boasts chic black leather handles, a monogram patch and slick black hardware. Each bag also comes with a premium leather tag bearing the creator’s signature design.
Let’s check out the featured designers and their designs for Asia Designers Capsule Collection respectively.
Melinda Looi is an award winning fashion designer famous for her signature avant-garde, vintage style. Melinda Looi’s tote bag design for TUMI is inspired by a print she painted for her company’s 10-year anniversary. The background features a tile design, which represents the heritage of her label and a passion for fashion and art.
Olivia d’Aboville is a French-Filipino artist who set up her own brand in 2012 and specializes in creating striking tapestry and textile structures including lighting, home accessories, jewelry, bags and installation art. Her pieces are often made of unconventional, recycled or up-cycled materials. For TUMI, Olivia has created an abstract linear design inspired by the ocean. The refined design features clean, subtle lines that resemble the flowing movement of sand patterns across the ocean floor.
Award-winning Indonesia Fashion Designer, Didiet Maulana, is the owner of Ikat Indonesia. The pattern on the tote bag that she designed for TUMI is taken from a piece of ikat fabric and each color has a special meaning. According to Didiet, red and white represent Indonesia’s flag color, signifying strength and truth respectively; blue represents the sea and Indonesia’s status as the largest archipelagic country, and brown represents Mother Nature. These elements create a harmony and showcase Indonesia as part of the world’s dynamic international scene.
Hong Kong born designer and celebrity stylist, Kay Wong co-founded her whimsical fashion label ‘Daydream Nation’ in 2006. The label, which has dressed international stars including Ke$HA and Juliette Binoche, takes its inspiration from travel adventure stories, dream seeking and breaking the rules. Kay’s design for TUMI showcases a bold, abstract print inspired by the 1986 Japanese animated adventure film, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, which depicts an imagined, utopian kingdom.
Adrian Anh Tuan is the Creative Director and Owner of Valenciani, one of Vietnam’s leading women’s fashion labels with a long list of celebrity clientele. Adrian’s design for TUMI is a vibrant print that is linked to Valenciani’s upcoming Holiday 2015 collection and is inspired by indie artists around the world. For her, the print is full of life, excitement and good vibes — which is exactly what the holiday season is all about.
A former designer at Ksubi, Sass & Bide and Imitation of Christ, Au Ekbutr Udomphol founded his own fashion brand ‘The Only Son’ in 2010 in Bangkok. Au’s design for TUMI has a contemporary feel and features a textured screenprint on the all-black tote. His design is inspired by optical illusions from the 60’s Op art movement and the intricate pattern of TUMI’s Tegra-Lite® series, which also made him look into the weaving pattern of traditional Thai seating mats.
Taiwanese-born Jewelry Designer, Christina Lu launched her vintage jewelry brand, ‘Momo’s March’ in 2004. Christina’s design is inspired by the luxury of travel and the opportunity it affords us to unplug from our daily lives and self-reflect. Her TUMI print is an open landscape with a beautiful blue sky. A graphic of an eye is painted in the sky, which is a symbol of reflection and the ability to see things from a fresh perspective. A quote from Henry Miller “One’s destination is never a place, but a new way to see things” is written in white on the other side. It is written in reverse and is only legible when viewed in a mirror. This is in keeping with the theme of taking time to reflect and seeing things with clarity when we travel that we normally do not notice in our busy lives.
The ‘I AM A TUMI GLOBAL CITIZEN’ tote was created exclusively for Asia Pacific by TUMI’s design team. The tote’s design celebrates TUMI’s customers, Global Citizens who are extraordinary people on extraordinary journeys. For Global Citizens, cultures merge, boundaries are blurred and home is anywhere they choose to roam. TUMI’s tote is the perfect companion for Global Citizens — making their journeys as effortless and enjoyable as possible.
The exclusive Asia Designers Capsule Collection (RP: RM970 each) is currently available at the selected TUMI store for this holiday season.
