How do you improve an icon? When the update came the 931 bagGerman accessory brand TATTAS nothing changed – the austere, compact design is as durable as any mid-century classic Dieter Rams. Instead, TSATSAS introduced a new color for the calf leather bag: burgundy. This latest tone joins the black, concrete gray and khaki green versions released in 2018.
The piece is based on a Rams design from 1963. At the time, Rams was working at Braun, creating some of his most legendary designs, including the Phonosuper SK 4—a stereo system nicknamed “Snow White’s Coffin.” Along with these breakthroughs in industrial design during his tenure as chief designer from 1961 to 1995, Rams also produced leather shaving cases in collaboration with leather workshops in Offenbach am Main. Today, the 931 bag is made by TSATSAS artisans in the same city, with leather produced in Sweden from a tannery that meets the highest standards for traceability, environmental management and social compliance.
It was also at Braun that Rams met Ingeborg Kracht, the photographer who would become his wife and the muse for the 931 bag. “I designed this bag the same way I designed everything else, so largely based on right angles, but maybe a little more emotional, more personal,” Rams said at the initial launch of the 931, some 55 years after he first sketched it. “Designing a bag is undoubtedly different from designing a Braun stereo system, but I applied the same principles. It had to be functional, visually durable and very aesthetically pleasing. Less is more.”
The design is both a love letter to Ingeborg and an apt illustration of the ‘Ten Principles for Good Design’ – especially the praise for products that are innovative, honest and long-lasting. In its latest burgundy iteration, the 931 keeps the design fresh and relevant.
To purchase the 931 bag, visit tsatsas.com.
Photo courtesy of TSATSA.
