Designer Alissia Melka-Teichroew was one of the ten designers at the Love It of Leave It Show in New York city. She showcased her Tote series which is a beautiful & functional bag made from white leather prototypes made in America by Portland Garment Factory. The bag consists of several compartments or pockets. The bag can be carried either over a shoulder or held in one hand. In the row of four totes presented here, each piece is based on a single paradigmatic form and features more pockets, zippers and handles than the one before it—ad absurdum—until functionality becomes over-functional, rendering the bag useless in the end.
“It goes without saying that a product must be functional, but beauty and proportion are essential too. The Tote series is a meditation on the nature of consumption, a reminder that beauty serves a purpose just as much as portability or containment do, and an exploration of why function tends to have greater value than aesthetics in the United States market, in particular. With the Love It or Leave It Tote, I have created a functional object, but also an object of desire.” – says Alissia Melka-Teichroew
