Bag Whore: Le Ballon Rouge

I love pencil cases. I always have, since grade school, when first graders had unspoken competitions over who had the coolest pencil cases which housed the coolest gel pens. My fondness for them has never ceased—wholly justified because it is an absolute necessity for (a) keeping all my writing utensils in one place and (b) I refuse to have the inside of my handbags marked with black ink.

Pencil cases make me think of The Red Balloon and little adorable French school children in trouser socks and navy shorts who perfect their cursive after pulling out pretty pens from said pencil cases and run around exclaiming « Chic alors! » when playing with new toys (from a local hobby shoppe) and other little knick-knacks they carry proudly around in a canvas cabas along with school-books. And their pencil case, of course.

Like this canvas shopper, from Paris:

By Teddyfish. A brand birthed in Spring 2010, whose concepts and mottos are honest, robust, sweet. Very small-town and kind of adorable, like little French kids who tag along with their French editor mothers to Paris Fashion Week. Teddyfish is a project, a brand, a lifestyle which hatched in an inspiring, old tea house with a mission to “create objects for peaceful, daily life.” Two designers who believed in handmade and small production and immersed themselves in the art of modern craftsmanship to improve originality and quality. And in doing so they were close to both their designs and their bags’ users: they sold to their friends. Their friends of friends. Friends of friends, of friends.

And they’ve finally gone public.

Teddyfish. Robust. Simple. Honest. Ready to get old. A collection of raw, canvas bags which embody all of the aforementioned and more. It speaks of the minimalist lifestyle, of the simplicity of baguette shopping at the local farmer’s market and boulangerie every morning. Of architecture and old French books from an actual librairie, and not a commercialized Barnes and Noble. Not that I mind them—I actually love sipping Starbucks whilst perusing the aisles—but I miss the authenticity and simplicity of culture and canvas cabas. I miss hand-made, well-made products that were meant to age gracefully with every shopping trip.

And Teddyfish speaks exactly to that. It’s too bad le Ballon Rouge is sold out. Le sigh.

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