SOMA, an edition of six leather bags and objects, references the human body: the neck, shoulders, and hips. The movements of its wearers and their clothes. The soft calfskin from which the SOMA belts, bags and accessories are made nestles into the body gently and enters into dialog with the clothes, draping themselves around the objects, laying on top of them or being held in place by them.
SOMA arose from a questioning of what we are accustomed to – and it is this that has been driving the work of Esther and Dimitrios Tsatsas, the designers behind the label TSATSAS, for years. Their collection of handmade leather bags has been growing since 2012 and is characterized by designs that leave behind the established patterns of the fashion world and rethink the objective free of all aesthetic restrictions.
The design duo developed the SOMA edition beginning with the question as to why the handle of a bag is generally only regarded as an aid to carry the body of the bag, but not as a product in itself. Why is the bag often designed first, with the handle added as an afterthought? Why not think about the handle first and devise the idea for a bag around it? After all, the handle is the only connection between the product and its wearer.
This line of thinking gave rise to the six different objects in the SOMA edition, all of which may be combined with one another. Worn on the body like a piece of jewelry, they either attach to a bag or already include one, and thus turn from a merely decorative object into an item of use.
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A small, soft bag with an elegant and clear design may be fastened to a simple belt and thus worn either on the hip or across the body over the shoulder. A wide hip belt in contrast features a bag, making this not an accessory, but part of the outfit. The form-fitting accessories SOMA NECK, CHOKER and SHOULDER link individual body parts through their linear design and also reference the human torso.
All SOMA products are manufactured by hand in Germany using the highest-quality natural leather. They feature adjustable metal fittings handmade in Italy from solid brass. Like all TSATSAS products, the SOMA products also feature an individual, chronological serial number.
The SOMA collection is on sale now at selected international fashion stores and at www.tsatsas.com. The six objects are available in cowhide and in the colours black and off-white.
All images: Copyright © Gerhardt Kellermann, Munich
