Dieter Rams' homage to his wife Ingeborg is now available for purchase

Few designers have left their mark on modern industrial design like Dieter Rams. Now he has surprisingly launched a product that was never intended for the public: a handbag.

The design is as clear, as style-defining as all the objects Dieter Rams designed in his life: restrained, aesthetic, functional. And yet the object that bears his signature is surprising: it is a handbag. Rams, who made a name for himself as one of the most influential designers of the 20th century with designs for technical devices for Braun and furniture for Vitsœ, and who continues to shape modern industrial design to this day, released the "0931" bag in collaboration with the Frankfurt-based label Tsatsas. "When we got to see the design, we thought it was almost perfect," says Esther Schulze-Tsatsas, who runs the label with her husband Dimitrios. "Not only from the outside - especially the inside is well thought out."

Even more surprising than the bag is its age: Rams designed it 55 years ago. It was a gift for his wife, Ingeborg, whom he met at Braun when she was 23. "The design was never originally intended for the public," Rams told The New York Times. It was when he visited a leather workshop where the cases for Braun razors were produced that he got the idea. His wife still wears the timeless declaration of love, which is kept extremely purist in accordance with Rams' maxim "Good design is as little design as possible."

Dieter Rams bag "0931".

Esther and Dimitrios Tsatsas.

"And then the bag found us," says Esther Schulze-Tsatsas. The label has been around since 2012, and like Rams, the Frankfurters focus on quality and understatement. In the spring, they launched a bag by Bauhaus architect Ferdinand Kramer, who in turn had designed it for his wife Lore in the sixties. An employee of Rams' foundation came across the bag and made contact. The 86-year-old Rams, who has since retired from the public eye, didn't take long to convince: "They're both very pleasant to work with, and they appreciate good and durable design, like I do." The functionalist spent his life pursuing the question of how design could improve the world, and his "Ten Theses for Good Design" became a standard work in design education.

"The bag was never meant for the public in the beginning."

"There wasn't much we had to change in the design," says Esther Schulze-Tsatsas. The bag, made of Scandinavian calfskin and available in black and light gray with a lining of pacific blue lamb nappa, is made by traditional bag makers in Offenbach - the same place where the designer got the idea for its design. The interior, which fans out when the magnetic lock is opened, is - quite Rams - sophisticated: In addition to two spacious compartments, there are two narrow pockets that can be secured by snap and zipper, respectively. There are also holders for a hand mirror and lipstick.

The pocket next to the "D6" projector that Rams designed for Braun in 1963.

Tsatsas made the biggest change on the outside: the designers added a detachable shoulder strap to the bag "so that it would meet the demands of a modern woman". Otherwise, the "0931" remained largely as Rams designed it in 1963. "This is the outstanding achievement of this man," Schulze-Tsatsas says. "The talent to design timeless products that look as modern today as they did 55 years ago." Rams' decision to launch the bag now was also a personal one. He said it was a tribute to his longtime companion Ingeborg, who has always been his alter ego. (Incidentally, Ingeborg Rams was particularly taken with the new shoulder strap.) The bag could well be the last design Dieter Rams publishes. When asked if he could imagine becoming more active in design again, Rams said, "I think I've had enough designing then."

The bag, worth 900 euros, is available through Tsatsas. How you could also secure yourself a copy? Why not check back here on 24.12.2018.

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