‘Everything I did, I saw it through a tropical eye’, said textile designer Althea McNish. ‘I am a citizen of the world and I am multicultural.’ We love the sentiment and are inspired by her work, and we’ve produced a limited edition range using her vibrant patterns that revolutionised postwar design in Britain. McNish (1924-2020) came to the UK from Trinidad in 1950 and became … Continue reading ‘I am a citizen of the world…’
We’re so excited to be back together after two years….and to be back at the fantastic Chomp & Stomp festival! This Saturday, November 6, 11am to 6pm, in Cabbagetown, Atlanta. Last time we were there was 2019…. We’ve been doing this festival for 8 years, and we missed it when it was Covid cancelled last year. Come and see us and check out our new … Continue reading The Bag Ladies are back!
We’re making wearable art with our two new artist-maker collaborations! The Lobster Series and Tonal Dance Bledsoe Bags has teamed up with linoprint artist Jane Bristowe for a limited-edition collaboration – The Lobster Series. Jane is a Fulham-based artist whose work we’ve featured before in our Dog Walkabout bag and our Curious Cat/Ginger Cat storage basket. We’re making Bledsoe’s signature Walkabout phone bags as well as pencil/glasses cases, gadget … Continue reading Wearable art
‘Take me outside, sit in the green gardenNobody out there, but it’s okay nowBathe in the sunlight, don’t mind if rain fallsTake me outside, sit in the green garden…’ We love Laura Mvula’s ‘Green Garden’, her love song to nature. She has said her 2013 song celebrates the creative influence of her childhood back garden in the suburbs of Birmingham, England: “When we moved to our … Continue reading Green garden
In Fulham, we’ve been collaborating with a local artist to produce a limited edition of Bledsoe’s popular walkabout bags and facemasks. Jane Bristowe creates stunning linocut prints that bring out the characters of animals, and we’ve worked with her to produce fabric from her amazingly characterful dog prints. This has been an organically evolving collaboration – the first for us at Bledsoe Bags, and so … Continue reading A new community collaboration
….but sometimes it is. Sometimes a bit of black and white and a spot of red brings some certainty to an uncertain world. We’ve made some beautiful sturdy bags (for going back to school and work) featuring black and white and red – backpacks, tote bags, and our handy walkabouts with matching facemask. Read more about our backpacks. Read more about our tote bags. Read … Continue reading It’s not always black and white….
Walking is a subversive activity. In his book Psychogeography, Merlin Coverley writes of ‘the democratic importance of the street-level perspective to be gained from walking the city and reconnecting with individual life’ – in contrast with the omniscient architect or planner viewing from above, the walker sees the totality from the street, ‘restoring the primacy of the street’. Being an urban explorer depends on a … Continue reading Go walkabout
It seems we’re now in a place, all over the world, where people are having to make their own individual and very personal risk assessments and decide for themselves what they’re willing to do in terms of being out in the world. Unless you’re in a re-locked down area (Leicester, Melbourne), the guidance about where and how far you can go, and with whom … Continue reading For the intrepid and the wary
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