I had very specific demands when it came to a good laptop bag. You see, I’m a big fan of Apple’s 17″ MacBook Pro. My first Apple machine was a 17″-er (way back when, when it was still called PowerBook *awesome name* and featured a G4 processor). Since I (still) design a lot, even while traveling, this machine with its 17″ canvas and 1920×1200 full HD resolution provided the perfect Creative Suite power any designer could wish for. It was thin, but large nevertheless. And finding a bag that could fit this beast, and meet my sartorialistic fashionista needs was a complicated task. The first bag I got for it was a Knomo Frinton. A tote, with beautiful black leather and enough room for some magazines, perhaps a book, and my peripherals (mouse, power adapter, iPod). This bag served me perfectly fine until I saw the aforementioned teaser.

The bag was called Unfold. A very clever name, for a uniquely designed, beautiful laptop bag. You see, it’s called Unfold because it folds to two different shapes. And the coolest thing about it, is that it’s designed to hold a 13″, 15″ or 17″ MacBook. Hand-made with fine Italian leather, that ages beautifully. I just had to have it, and ordered it immediately.

Gorgeous packaging

I literally counted the weeks it took before my bag arrived. It might have been days, but it felt like weeks. But then it came. Packaged beautifully in a cotton bag with really nice typography that said Working Class Heroes. That was the name of the company back then. I took it out of its packaging and felt up the smooth, new, and deliciously smelling leather. I threw my Knomo bag in a cupboard somewhere and adopted this bag instantly.

This bag travelled all over the world with me. It’s been from Amsterdam to Tokyo, London, Berlin, Barcelona, Paris, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington, Austin and probably some obscure spots not worth mentioning. It has survived massive rainstorms, extreme heat, late nights out and SXSW. And I can’t recall how many times I’ve heard “Wow, where did you get that bag?”. Each time I stopped to write down the URL so people could go look for themselves.

Steven's 2Unfold (left) and my Unfold (right)

I fell so in love with this bag I started evangelizing. I converted my friend Steven, who got very lucky. By the time he was ready to drop the whopping (almost) € 400, 2Unfold was released. Working Class Heroes changed its name to Hard Graft, and came out with the new version of my beloved bag. 2Unfold was even more perfect. It lacked all of the little 1.0 beta design flaws of Unfold. I can remember my jealousy for Steven’s younger beauty, but was still very much infatuated with my beautifully aging baby. My second convert was high profile. VP and CTO of this little online bookstore. I don’t think I need to say more.

Werner Vogels and his 2Unfold

Although my Unfold has aged stunningly, it has its flaws like I mentioned before. It was the first version of a bag that got perfected in its second version. The strap for example, is very weak compared to the new one. So weak in fact, that it snapped on one of my bike rides through Amsterdam, dropping my laptop on the street (no major damages, but still). The hidden side pocket got used while walking so many times the zipper broke. After many fix-ups, I decided to leave it as it is. Fixed the strap twice though, that part was crucial.

My Unfold, 2 years ago

My Unfold, today

But even with its many damages, I still get stopped by random strangers asking about my bag. The leather has changed color and stained a little, but adds a lot of character to it. Since the strap-snap incident however, I’ve been thinking about replacing my beloved Unfold. My friend Nalden is very keen on his QWSTION bags, and I must say, I was tempted to get one of those as a replacement.

Then my eye fell on a tweet. A new version of 2Unfold. In a color that matches most of my wardrobe perfectly (I rock the greyscales). Perfect just became more perfect. Now don’t you all go buying this bag because I have to save up some cash.