form studio presents pako, a hand-woven bicycle bag made in vietnam

form studio presents pako, a hand-woven bicycle bag made in vietnam
all images courtesy of form design studio

after graduating from central saint martins in 2012, swedish designer elin josefine olsson of form design studio made the life changing decision to pick up and move to vietnam. two years later, she partnered with MCNV — a dutch health organization — to visit the community of quang tri. one of the poorest provinces in the country, it saw extensive warfare and devastation during the vietnam war.

‘pako’ bag attached saddle style  

experiences during her visit to quang tri formed the basis for the ‘pako’ bicycle bag. drawing from western europe’s pedal culture, as well as her adopted country’s ubiquitous red plastic shopping basket, olsson conceived the product. the two part design includes a military-esque green shoulder bag and hand-woven bamboo basket. leather straps enable the satchel to be attached to a bike at multiple points, and a shoulder strap allows for carrying by hand. the  ‘pako’ bicycle bag is hand-made by a small group of craftsmen in vietnam’s quang tri area, and is available for purchase through form design studio. 

leather straps easily attach to a range of bicycle handlebars

‘pako’ bicycle bag 

when its handles are snapped together, the bamboo basket acts as a shoulder sling

green shoulder bag 

from bike to shoulder to bike again, the ‘pako bag’ goes where you do 

back, profile, and front views  

weaving process 

handle 

boiling bamboo strips prevents the material from becoming moldy 

pre-weaving bamboo preparation 

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions  feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: nick brink | designboom