It could be for a birthday, the upcoming Qixi Festival (aka Chinese Valentine’s Day), Christmas or just any day during these trying Covidian times. If you’ve been looking for a gift for a female fashion fiend, may we suggest the latest box set that just landed at Loewe: The Nano Bags Box comprises five of the house’s bags, in the brand’s adorable, smallest nano size, nestled in a specially created collector’s box.
To give you an idea of what Loewe’s nano size is like, consider the Puzzle, a cuboid bag made of several connected leather panels. A handbag-sized Puzzle in Medium measures 29 x 19.5 x 14cm, while the Nano Puzzle measures 12.5 x 8.5 x 5.4cm. In other words, these petite pouches are too small to hold most of the mobile phones on the market these days, but can stylishly house bits and bobs such as a credit card, some cash and a hand sanitiser.
The five-piece set includes nano versions of the following bags: The Puzzle cuboid bag, the Hammock (a structured bag with supple side panels that can be released), the Balloon bucket bag, the Flamenco drawstring tote and the Gate cross-body saddlebag. Importantly, the brand did not just pluck five bags off its shelves and put them into a pretty box. The nano Gate and nano Hammock can only be found in this set, as these styles have not been produced in this size before. Additionally, the colours that the nano Puzzle, nano Balloon and nano Flamenco come in are also exclusive to the set.
With Loewe’s renewed focus on craft under creative director Jonathan Anderson, it’s no surprise that the box itself is highly collectible as well. Hand-made in Japan using light and fine-grained Paulownia wood, the box is based on the traditional Japanese kiribako box that is often used for gifting or storing important items. The Loewe anagram, with its four interlocking cursive Ls, is laser-engraved on the lid while the calfskin-lined compartments also bear the small, embossed names of each bag.
Even the ribbon tied around the box is special: Made from a tightly woven fabric, the sanada-himo cord was historically used by samurai for various purposes, such as securing their armour. It’s a meaningful finishing touch to a set that’s sure to delight that bag lover in your life — who could, of course, well be yourself.
The Loewe Nano Bags Box retails for S$15,650 (approx RM48,891.82)
This article first appeared in The Peak Singapore.
