COLUMNISTS Do Friday mornings in mid-July fill you with a certain sense of panic? Do you lie in bed waiting for the alarm clock to wail while figuring out the logistics of how you're going to squeeze in four meetings, a lunch and time to buy gifts for the friends who you are staying with over the weekend? Does your brow get damp when think about the late afternoon dash you're going to have to make from desk to taxi to train to airport in order to make the flight to Naples, Istanbul, Valencia or Innsbruck? Somewhere between the shower and the sink do you start to despair about what and how you're going to pack so that you can move effortlessly from a Kilgour suit to something more appropriate for your arrival on the tarmac at Pisa?
With the summer weekend commute now in full swing at airports across the northern hemisphere you can spot the accidents waiting to happen well before travellers get anywhere near the boarding gate. At taxi ranks in Paris you see young men attempting to tame briefcases, wheelie bags and duffels long before they're officially en route to Nice airport. In London you can spy the weekend commuters with their tote bags full of gifts, the flaccid garment bags waiting to be stuffed with a damp suit and overnighters that are about to split from the stress of too many polo shirts crammed in at the last minute.
Two summers ago I embarked on a project to engineer a carry-on bag that would deal with all the needs of the summer weekend commuter and still allow them to pass security checks and vigilant check-in staff without let or hindrance. Working with factories in Florence and Naples I came close to developing a weekender that would deal with everything from a G4 PowerBook to a selection of footwear to cope with court, beach and dance floor. The final product, however, never quite made the grade and I decided to abandon my part-time career as a bag designer. Since then I've been combing army surplus stores, vintage luggage shops, charity outlets and regular retailers to find such a bag, but have failed to unearth the perfectly constructed carrier that I know will forever change the way I enjoy weekends. All that changed on a visit to my favourite bag shop in Aoyama last week.
Some months ago I switched to a stubby, cotton twill duffel bag by Porter that is able to hold enough gear to take me on the road for a full two weeks and still manages to fit into any overhead locker. But while it's great for dealing with everything from Asics trainers to toiletry kit, it's not designed to mix garments with all the tools that go with work. Moreover, for weekends that demand an elegant retreat from the city my current luggage set-up always requires some type of support bag for books, magazines, laptop and cables.
I wasn't really in the market for a new bag as I'd given up hope on finding the multi-role weekender of my dreams, but on a stand towards the back of the store I spied a slightly squarish black shoulder bag in a herringbone weave. With four main pockets, a leather snap joiner to keep the handles together, sturdy studs on the bottom and no visible logo it looked the part. On closer examination, the two main compartments offered plenty of space to deal with all the clothes I'd need for two nights out of town, while the other pocket could accommodate all the work I always promise myself I'll tackle on the Sunday night flight home. Last weekend I put it through its paces on my summer commute up to Sweden and it managed everything brilliantly - even fittting under the seat in front of me. Here's what it dealt with:
*one pair of navy Loro Piana trunks
*one pair of olive Principe trunks
*one white short-sleeved, half-button- front Oxford shirt from Beams
*one short-sleeved blue broadcloth shirt from Forum in São Paolo
*one pair of APC jeans
*one pair of chinos from Incotex
*sneakers from Duffer
*assorted sneaker socks from Muji
*assorted underwear from Schiesser and Palmers
*one Ballantyne navy cotton jumper
*one too-large bottle of Vetiver Cologne from Comme des Garçons
*one navy Loopwheeler polo shirt
*smallish toiletry kit
*Apple G4 PowerBook
*Docomo and Nokia mobile phones
*a jungle of cables
*copies of Brutus, Pen, Vanity Fair, the New Yorker and the Economist
*one Smythson notebook
Not designed for the amateur packer, I'd recommend the Porter Terminal bag only for professionals who know how to do a good wardrobe edit before venturing off for the weekend. While I'd like to tell you that this bag is readily available in all the markets where this newspaper is sold, for the moment it's only in Japan. That said, it's worth making the trip for a bag that makes for a better weekend.
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