Project 10 Bags by Paul Smith Japan, More Details

As we reported earlier this week, Friday was the launch day for the Paul Smith Japan should bags collection called Project 10 : BAG. Now that the bags are out, we can give you some more details and photos of the actual bags.

The way this collection works is that there are 138 different designs, but only 10 bags of each design are made. Each Paul Smith shop in Japan gets 10 bags of a single design. So, if you want the design that is stocked by a shop in Okinawa, but you live in Tokyo, you are out of luck – or you can hop on an airplane and hope they still have one of the ten by the time you get there. It’s sort of crazy, but Paul Smith wanted to make something that would be original for each owner. The text on the shop tag for each bag says:

Paul Smith Project 10: Bag is a reaction to a world full of mass production.

A limited edition of 10 pieces guarantees your bag will be pretty original.

The Project 10 bag pictures we have for you today are of the bag design that is being carried by the Zozoresort online Paul Smith shop. Like all of the other designs, there are only ten of these, and they are exclusive to this shop. So, if you like this design, Zozo is the one and only place in the world you can get it. While these photos show a single design, the other designs can all be viewed on the Paul Smith website.

Here is a picture of the front of the bag:

Notice the leather “Paul Smith Project 10” logo sewn onto the front of the bag. The bag itself is based on the Paul Smith “Flight Bag” and measures 40cm wide x 26cm high x 12cm deep. It’s not a small bag, but the construction is soft so it isn’t too heavy and it isn’t too rigid.

Here is a photo of the back of the bag:

The print on the back of the bag is different from the front, but similar enough to give the bag a unified look. If you check the Paul Smith website, you can see both sides of each bag’s design. Some are pretty much the same on both sides and some are very different.

The shoulder strap is nice and wide in case you’re carrying anything heavy and it’s fully adjustable to allow you to wear it high up like a messenger or hanging below your waist if you prefer it that way.

Here is the inside of the bag:

The inside of all of the bags that I’ve seen so far are purple – a very Paul Smith color of purple at that. Not sure if every bag is purple on the inside or not, but maybe. The detail on the inside is nice – there is a zippered pocket on one side and two wallet/phone open pockets on the opposite side of the inside. There are no outside pockets, just the zipper at the top, but it’s a nice big zipper and a wide opening, so it’s easy enough to get items in and out.

Going back to that limited edition thing – every Project 10 bag has it’s official number (1-10) on a leather tag inside of the bag. So, you’ll always know what number your bag is. That should help to fight anyone trying to bootleg these on auction websites too.

Here is a picture showing some other details of the bag:

In this photo, you can see the leather corners on the bottom of the bag, the way the strap is stitched onto the size of the bag using thick leather, a closeup of the grain of the bag’s print material, and the leather luggage tag this is attached to the strap. The luggage tag is easily removable for those (most of us?) who prefer to us the bag around town rather than as a flight bag.

Hopefully this gives you a pretty good idea of what this bag is about. It’s a nice sized bag for roaming around a city like Tokyo – you could easily fit your iphone, wallet, camera, and a few books or magazines. The bag isn’t cheap at ¥48,300 (around US$500), but you already guessed that, right?

As mentioned previously, the actual bag in these photos is available only from Zozo’s online shop, but there are 137 other designs out there – all of which can be viewed on the Paul Smith website. So, check it out and good luck tracking one down if you find one you like. Less than 24 hours after launch, there are probably some designs that are already sold out.

Word is that Paul Smith wants to continue working on “Project 10” with super limited items other than bags in the future. When we get more news on that, you’ll read it here.

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