cicftaiwan Report post Posted February 3, 2017 This bag was designed for an exhibition in Taiwan. I wanted to design a bag that I thought reflected something unique about Taiwan and my experiences living here for the past 20 years. One of the 1st things about Taiwan that grabbed my attention the 1st day I arrived was the swarm of motorbikes that covered the streets. Motorbikes or scooters are by far the preferred form of transportation throughout Taiwan and they vastly outnumber all other forms of transportation on the densely-populated Island. These compact modes of transportation are favored for their convenience in parking and inexpensive maintenance. But as convenient as they are, they are also quite dangerous and it's not uncommon to see accidents daily. I myself have been in 2 over the years, resulting in breaking a shoulder in each accident. I have since thrown in the towel and now drive a car with lots of airbags..! Regardless, these bikes have left a deep impression on my life and so I decided to create a luxury bag built around the properties of a scooter tire. Coming up with a design I really liked that would work well with the shape and weight of the tire was challenging at 1st, but eventually the concept came to life. The 1st challenge I had starting out was finding the right tire for the job. So, I went to a large motorbike shop and to my surprise after hearing about my plans to design a bag out of a tire they began to enthusiastically bring out every tire they had in their collection for me to choose from. This made finding the right tire a whole lot easier and they have my sincerest appreciation..! To make this project a piece of art and not just a bag I wanted to incorporate the use of a variety of exotic leathers, such as horse leather, gazelle fur, and fine Italian tanned leathers on different components of the bag to give it a richly exotic look and feel. To lighten the weight of the bag I have removed any unnecessary rubber from the tire and have used extra thick (3mm thick) Leather to provide the bag with strength and support for the tires shape and weight. Every component you see on the bag was cut, dyed, and stitched together by hand using only traditional techniques... The end result was better than I could have expected! After spending about 2 months coming up with a design I spent about another 50 -60 hours to build the bag itself! Since then I have come up with 3 distinct designs for the tire bag for both larger and smaller tires. If you'd like to see more pictures of this bag and some of my other leather artwork and designs, please visit my page at www.fischerworkshops.com Thanks!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DS STRAPS Report post Posted February 3, 2017 Beautiful work! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dirkba Report post Posted February 3, 2017 What hide did you use...looks like springbok! Amazing piece of work! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Reegesc Report post Posted February 4, 2017 gorgeous work Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cicftaiwan Report post Posted February 5, 2017 On 2/4/2017 at 0:26 AM, dirkba said: What hide did you use...looks like springbok! Amazing piece of work! Yes, it is. South African Springbok. Thanks! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
maxdaddy Report post Posted February 5, 2017 Chris, That's a very creative idea and the execution really shows off your techniques. Beautiful! The length of time that you spent on the planning sure paid off. Thanks for sharing the back-story on the inspiration and the other details. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cicftaiwan Report post Posted February 6, 2017 On 2/4/2017 at 0:26 AM, dirkba said: What hide did you use...looks like springbok! Amazing piece of work! Yes, it is. South African Springbok. Thanks! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cicftaiwan Report post Posted February 6, 2017 21 hours ago, maxdaddy said: Chris, That's a very creative idea and the execution really shows off your techniques. Beautiful! The length of time that you spent on the planning sure paid off. Thanks for sharing the back-story on the inspiration and the other details. Thanks for checking out the post and for your thoughtful comments! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grey Drakkon Report post Posted February 6, 2017 Beautifully executed and a unique piece! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cicftaiwan Report post Posted February 7, 2017 17 hours ago, Grey Drakkon said: Beautifully executed and a unique piece! Thank you! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
