A short while back I asked Kate if she would like to design a bag. I’m glad she wanted to because after a few revisions and samples the final product is beautiful! And it has the perfect name… the Funchico (from Funky, Chic and Cool). The Funchico is based on a vintage train case but with features to accommodate the modern laptop-carrying woman. Its exterior fabric is a perfect fit for a vintage look, but it’s woven with pink threads to give it a modern edge. The pink threads make the fabric look different depending on how the light hits it. Really nice fabric, but as Kate mentions, hard to photograph.

Kate just posted her own review and write up of the bag on her lens. As always, she perfectly describes the bag, its features, fabric and more. You can find the entire write up on her lens and I’ve included it below.

Kate’s write up on the Funchico:

The Funchico – a Vintage-Style Pink Laptop Tote

Classic Holly Golightly style, updated for the 21st Century

Well, I finally did it! After spending over four years reviewing everyone elses’ laptop bags, I’ve finally designed one myself.

Meet … The Funchico!

I’m thrilled that I finally had the opportunity, through a partnership with Rainebrooke Designs, to create my dream bag. The Funchico’s design is based on a vintage train case – the kind that fashionable women used to carry on trains and ships as they embarked on exciting journeys around the world. Except, that bag silhouette wouldn’t work too well for the modern laptop-carrying fashionista. But with a few tweaks, you get the Funchico.

The Funchico is a vertically oriented bag that will hold up to a 15.4″ laptop. The sleeve in the centre of the bag is removable – great for getting through airport security. The inside of the bag is also fashioned on the train case. There are three generous pockets in the main compartment of the bag – they are loosely gathered and zippered to resemble the pockets in vintage luggage. The nice thing about them is that they will accommodate different size accessories – so whether your power brick is for a Mac or a PC, it will fit. As the Funchico is a clamshell-style, there are also two zippered slim pockets in the interior of the top of the case.

On the front of the Funchico, there is a small pocket with a silver twist closure that is perfect for your mobile phone or iPod. On the back, there are two zippers – open the top one and you have a place to stow a few documents or a magazine; open the bottom one as well and you have a passthrough you can use to attach the Funchico over the top of your luggage.

You can carry the Funchico either by its generous faux-leather shoulder handles or via the small briefcase-style handle on the top. And, of course there are four silver feet to protect the bottom from dirt.

One of the things I am most excited about the Funchico is the fabric. It is unique tan and pink metallic tweed. This gives the bag an interesting texture, depending on the light (it also makes it a little tricky to photograph – I’ve found the bag is actually more pink in real life than it is in the photos). The broader tweed weave makes it a little more dirt-resistant than bags with a tight tweed weave.

Oh, I mentioned that the internal sleeve is removable. It’s secured by Velcro strips and we’ve made sure that the “soft” side of the Velcro is on the interior of the bag, so, if you wanted, you could actually remove the sleeve and use the Funchico simply as an overnight bag. Sweet!

When designing the bag and working through the manufacturing process with Rainebrooke, we both wanted to make sure that we didn’t sacrifice the environment for fashion. So all carbon produced during manufacturing and transport has been offset purchased through Carbonfund.org. And finally, we donate a portion of the proceeds to Dress for Success (Vancouver and Houston chapters) – an organization that promotes the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire.

You can purchase the Funchico at Rainebrooke’s site – it sells for $99 US.

Pick up the latest print edition or subscribe to MacTribe magazine and you can see the Funchico vintage pink laptop case review.

Update: Just received the print edition of MacTribe and was very excited to see that the Funchico laptop case and the Allie laptop bag are on the first page of the Techie Trendy section. Very cool! Thanks @MacTribe. Image of print edition below.

Picture by MacTribe magazine / AJ Soto Photography

More press reviews of Rainebrooke’s pink laptop bags & cases can be found here.

Journalist Maximus – the “I carry everything with me at all times” journalist.

Journalist Simplicus – the JS doesn’t want to carry a lot of gear (or if they do, it’s small gear – netbook, point and shoot camera, iphone) and needs to move quickly.

Journalist Retroicus – often seen sporting a fedora, this journalist eschews any and all equipment besides their trusty notepad.

Journalist Impatiens Paranoicus – generally a traveler – roaming to far-flung, exotic locales to ply their trade.

And my favorite!

Journalist Fashionista – She (fieldnote: typically, though not exclusively, this species is female) wants it all. Capacity for all her gear, comfort in the carrying and style in the look. She wants to fit in on the pages of Vogue yet write for Newsweek.

Head over to Funchico.com and read the full article and field guide to laptop bags for journalist. The full article includes dozens of different bags, showing which ones are the best for each species of journalist. The new Rainebrooke Black Candy laptop bag, is one of the bags listed for the Journalist Fashionista.

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