EXCLUSIVE: A-COLD-WALL* & Eastpak Devised Brutalist, Borderless Bags
A-COLD-WALL* is in an interesting place, as a brand. At once, it's big enough that founder Samuel Ross has the freedom to experiment as a multihyphenate artist, taking seasonal collections in fresh directions.
Simultaneously, A-COLD-WALL* keeps a comparatively low profile when stacked up against its industry peers. It doesn't scream, it whispers. Thus, A-COLD-WALL* invites shoppers who appreciate details above all else.
If they didn't, they'd just go somewhere else.
But you buy A-COLD-WALL* to get a piece of Ross' vision, a vision that he infuses into every element of the brand.
A-COLD-WALL*'s new Eastpak collaboration is a relatively subdued affair, compared to some of ACW*'s previous joint efforts — which tend to be shoes co-created with brands as big as Converse and compact as ROA — but no less steeped in Ross' inimitable motifs.
This Spring/Summer 2023 bag capsule was "made for people who don’t believe in boundaries" according to a press release, a conceit realized through the hybridization of ACW*'s industrial inclinations and Eastpak's effortless shapes.
To that end, we've got a selection of staple shapes filtered through the ACW* lens and available in an safety orange or "ACW* Pebble," a textural makeup indebted to Ross' brutalist design inclinations (read: craggy stone, obtuse slabs of raw concrete).
Eastpak's signature Padded Pak'r backpack now sports two zippered, welded-edge front pockets complete with extended length zipper pulls and reflective panels that're both useful and at least a lil' stylish.
These motifs carry over to the Tote and "One Double" pouch, the former of which boasts exaggerated "ACW" lettering while the later is reshaped with a uniquely curved body that subtly sets it apart from the standard style. That's the ACW* touch.
All three accessory styles drop on A-COLD-WALL*'s website March 3 and Eastpak's site and stores from March 7.
