Bag It; Anya Love Itoya

What do you carry in your bag? A pack of gum, a bottle of scent a sneaky bar of chocolate? Or more practical things like a pencil, a pen, or a notebook? Well, they do say you can carry the world in your handbag so does yours have a global feel? Anya Hindmarch the international yet very British bag company is collaborating with Japanese stationary brand Itoya to combine her well-known passion for British humour and creativity with Itoya’s mission to make the creative cycle more beautiful and comfortable. Find out more in Bag It; Anya Love Itoya

Whenever the British designer went to Japan for work her first stop was always at Itoya the country’s famous stationery store. After all, what is there not to love about colours, papers, pens, and all those dinky stationary items that have been so well designed?

Anya Hindmarch CBE, born in 1968 founded her British playful self-named global fashion brand in 1987 in London. Its concepts pioneered the trend of personalization that started in 2001 with the launch of a bag featuring customers’ own photographs.

Early also with innovation, her brand project titled ‘I Am A Plastic Bag”, launched in 2020 to tackle post-consumer waste, with each bag crafted from 32 half-litre recycled plastic bottles. Re-launched in 2020 and re-imagined in 2021 tackling post-consumer waste with each bag being reusable.

Added along the brand’s journey are fun homeware pieces alongside scents, fabrics and ceramics all baring the same playful spirit

The Village on Pont Street in London’s Chelsea opened in 2021, is a community of neighbouring stores and a cafe. Ever-evolving, it centres around the Village Hall, which hosts innovative concepts, collaborations and exhibitions. So far, The Village has played host to a fruit and veg store, hairdressers and an immersive space for the Return to Nature launch. At the Anya Cafe, a selection of cakes and biscuits, afternoon tea as well as an Aperitivo is offered, all with a twist of the brand’s trademark humour.

This September, the latest concept store to arrive at the Village is a unique collaboration; a stationery shop created in partnership with the legendary Japanese speciality stationers, Itoya.

A stationary geeks paradise for products from the cult store, available for the first time outside of Japan, as well as the latest Anya Hindmarch stationery collection, including The Mortimer. Having an organised bag never felt so elegant and practical.

In 1904, the history of Itoya began when the ever-curious founder, Katsutaro Ito, first encountered items of stationery. Stationeries were just arriving in Japan at a time of great change. Wanting to introduce these stationeries to as many Japanese as possible, Katsutaro came upon the idea of opening a store in Ginza, an up-and-coming part of Tokyo.

Now their flagship store consists of two buildings and a total of 18 floors with fourteen themed selling spaces and pop-up events.