Grace Kim, a graduate of the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU, currently working as Interaction Designer for Yahoo! created a beautiful handbag with sensibly stylish light  animation, the Sessile Handbag.

The center stage is once again the LilyPad Arduino, a must have standard part for most if not all eTextile and soft technology designer.

A very sophisticated looking alternately fade in and out light  animation for the LEDs make or break such designs. Turning on and of light with it’s full intensity looks rather cheaply to most.

On the other hand, softly fading light give a more classy appearance. It’s a relatively small (technical) aspect of a design, but such detail can have a big (negative or positive) impact on the overall design acceptance.

The soft fade in and out effect radiates the look of sophistication, a visual effect like twinkling stars. In addition to the twinkle effect the Sessile Handbag is made of hand knitted, felted fabric with cotton ‘barnacles’ for structure and as style element.

The Sessile Handbag by Grace Kim is not the ‘typical’ DIY wearable electronic project we usually feature Saturday’s but it is such a beautiful example how to use and integrate electronics in clothing or accessory items in harmony, not making it look geeky or techie.

Another focus point it the lovely way how the LEDs are concealed into the bags style elements to give a magical, diffused light appearance.

It’s a wonderful and exceptional good looking example that shows the real potential of soft technology integrated into an object adding aesthetic value.

[via: Aniomagic]

The magic or practicality of renewable energy provided by sun light and transforming it into electrical energy via solar cells has attracted Italian fashion designer Ennio Capasa from CoSTUME NATIONAL to create a range of high end – high tech Solar Handbags combining fashion, functionality and technology wrapped in Italian design.

Fine strips of mini-solar panels in contrasting colors on the front of the bag supply a small battery concealed in the lining.

The bag scome with a selection of connectors that adapt to every brand of cell phone, iPod and other digital accessories.

For women, the Solar Bag comes is two stylistic variants: the burgundy or black suede bauletto or the classic handbag. The male version offers a city bag made from brushed calfskin or buffalo.

For years, Ennio Capasa has experimented with sustainable materials — bamboo mixed with cashmere for example, and with new concepts. The solar handbag is his latest exploration in sustainable fashion using solar technology in combination with bag design, making Italian luxury contemporary.

CoSTUME NATIONAL is a luxury goods brand creating innovative style by merging street and couture with day and evening wear elements.

Ennio Capasa founded together with his brother CoSTUME NATIONAL in 1986 with stores in Milan, Rome, Paris, New York, Los Angeles and Tokyo.

Generating your own electricity for your cell phone, audio player or PDA has never been more fashionable. The launch date of the solar bags is set for September 2008.

[via: fashion & runway]

Noon launched last autumn the most stylish looking Solar totes and satchels which have sold out already. If you did not manage to get your Noon Solar bag you have another chance: in a few days Noon will launch the Spring 2008 Solar totes and satchels collection looking as gorgeous as the last line.

The new models (pictured on the left) are the Sawyer, a unisex messenger bag in mustard and chocolate and the Oakley, a maroon tote.

Among the solar bags in the market, Noon’s solar bags are not only very fashionable looking, they come with a high end solar-to-electricity conversion module. The module shows the loading status of the battery, a very helpful feature to manage your power eating gadgets. In case of rainy days you can load up the bags power module via mains to ensure enough power is in your bag for an extra charge of the portable devices while on a extended road trip.

Noon takes the environmental sustainability to the a highest levels using carefully chosen materials for their bags based on sustainability, longevity, and beauty.

Materials that can either bio-degrade naturally or be reclaimed and re-used. This ‘cradle to cradle’ philosophy, rather than the common ‘cradle to grave’ product lifespan helps minimizing the growth of our already overflowing landfills.

The Spring 2008 Solar bag collection will be available in April online and in retail stores in US. As soon as the new bags become available we will beam it up here on our blog to make sure you get your Noon Solar bag before they are sold out.

[source: treehugger]

A everyday situation: you are too late, dump everything in your bag, rush to your first appointment of the day and then it hits you: forgot the cell-phone or keys or wallet, iPod or Blackberry you name it, all the essential stuff we need for our daily survival in the digital and real world.

Our gadgets are getting smaller and until all those function are integrated in our clothing we have to double check before leaving the house.

Truly intelligent clothing might not be ready for another few years but a group of students at Canada’s Simon Fraser University has invented a handbag that tells if something is missing in the bag before hitting the road.

The six women behind this fabulous idea are: Ginny Mesina, Sherry Li, Nasrin Roya, Huma Zaidi, Lillian Tam and Jenny Vi.

The project called ‘LadyBag‘ is using RFID technology to detect items in the bag. If something is missing the LadyBag will show the items icon on the LED display on the outside of the LadyBag.

To let the bag know what it should look for each item to be tracked needs an RFID tag insert or attach to it. Such RFID tags are very common today, you can find them on virtually all items in shops. In case you forget to pay for an item you will hear an alarm going off the moment you attempt to leave the shop.

The same principle is used in the LadyBag, just the other way around: if something is not inside the bag when leaving home the display on the bags outside will show what is missing inside. Cool, very cool idea.

But the ladies in Canada didn’t stop with the ‘don’t forget me’ feature for a LadyBag and added another interactive element to the bag: emotions.

The LED display on the outside of the bag reflects the user’s emotional state through the display of emoticons. Emotional state is determined through the interactions with the bag that are registered through physical sensors.

Hugging the sides, the bag’s display will show a happy face emoticon. Fiddling with the zipper shows a nervous emoticon.

This team has done a fabulous job in their project and all the project material is available online on the LadyBag project site. A wealth of information starting from user insight studies to idea generation and prototyping.

The LadyBag project has been published almost two years ago and I am surprised that this great idea has not been taken up by someone from the industry to work on a commercial product.

For more information of the LadyBag and inspirational reading click over to the project site, reading material I highly recommend.

Oakley comes to my mind firstly for having cool, stylish sunglasses. Next comes to my mind the kind of Wearable Electronic MP3 and Bluetooth sunglasses.

What might not be known that widely is the range of good looking bags Oakley has in their program. Computer bags for example the block radiation, effectively preventing your Bluetooth gadget from being hijacked by cyber crocks.

One bag jumped into my view immediately, the Voltage Tote, a chic looking tote that features illumination of the interior to help you navigating through all your stuff in low light condition.

If you are tired of hunting for your cell phone or digging for your pen, the Voltage Tote has build-in light coming from two LEDs that shine a soft light on your valuables.

This comes especially handy around this time of the year where the sun goes down early and up late.

Oakley’s Voltage Tote light feature gives enough light to show what you carry in your bag but you don’t have to be afraid lighting up everything around you, the light will stay inside your tote.

The on/off switch for the light is on the battery holder which is placed on the outside of the tote (see image on the left) let’s you choose when you want / need the light.

Having the option to use or not to use the light will extend the battery lifetime of the single AA battery by not turning on the light every time you open the tote.

I love the battery holder which blends perfectly into the style of the Voltage Tote and shows the high quality and attention to details of Oakley’s design.

Some of the key features of the Voltage Tote:

• Nylon and ballistic nylon material
• Interior LED lights that can be flipped out for external illumination
• Nylon webbing handles
• Ballistic nylon bottom for added durability
• Power pack with push-button control
• Dimension: 13″ H x 11″ W x 5″ D (33cm x 27.9cm x 12.7cm)

Oakley is selling the Voltage Tote online for $ 80.- a fair price for this chic tote with the little bit extra, a bright and practical idea.

Take the style of sophisticated handbags, add the practicality of an interior light to easily locate your essentials in dark and you end up with the perfect blend of chic and function.

Kara Kurcz decided to incorporate a neon light into the frame of her bags. The positive feedback on her creation let to the developed of a complete range of bags and she started Solas Fashion in 2006 to bring the bags to the market.

To light up the interior of a handbag was first demonstrated in a cooperation between leather and bag specialist Bree, Bayer Polymers, one of the world’s largest plastics manufacturers and Lumitec, a specialist in electroluminescence (EL) and precision electronic components. But the Bree handbag was just a demonstrator and was never followed through to market introduction.

It was up to Solas Fashion to create and develop the market by continuously adding more styles and expand the range of handbags every season.

The bags need 2 AA batteries for the light. The light is switched on or off when opening and closing the bag via the magnetic button. No worry, you won’t light up a whole room with your handbag, it’s just enough to find what you are looking for in your bag.

Thanks to celebrity endorsement from the likes of Vanessa Manillo, Scarlett Johansson and Cameron Diaz, the Solas bags have reached a wide audience and fan base.

If you had every difficulties to find something in your bag, go and browse through the different styles and types of bags in Solas online shop.