Review: Suave Kenya BP-214

I've been really craving a bag from the company Suave Kenya ever since I learned about its history from a youtube video in a friend's Facebook post. It's a nice little upstart which up-cycles kitenges (a traditional fabric native to East and Central Africa) and denim to create really stylish looking bags. Currently, they offer 2 styles of bags: bag packs and messenger bags.

They put an interesting twist on things, adding little flourishes even when using the same kitenge to make different bags; sadly, though, this has meant that the styles they offer sometimes fly off the shelves real quick while I procrastinate about buying a specific bag. 

Anyway, last month I finally committed to getting one of their bags; the BP-214 to be exact (which according to their page is no longer available). I gravitated towards its dark purple colour scheme with the quaint kitenge highlights for its pockets.

This bag also contains its fair share of denim. The denim forms the inner lining of the bag, and it just makes it a beautiful ensemble of seemingly contrasting elements that fit surprisingly well together.

What struck me from the get-go is that this seems like a very small bag. They don't list its dimensions on the website, but I've measured it at 30 cm by 40 cm by 15 cm. Combine that with the rather small straps, and I initially felt like this bag would serve more as a stylish embellishment rather a good workhorse of a bag.

At least that's how I felt until I actually placed a good sized book in the bag. I usually tote around Creative Home Landscaping, and as the pictures show, it fit in quite snugly with lots of room to spare. The book measures 22 cm by 29 cm by 2 cm, which is probably representative of your typical book.

A spacious stylish interior

Side-by-side comparison

I really love this product. I'd say that my only gripe right now is the straps. My recommendation would be that perhaps when they upscale the company, they could look into making a more rugged version with fuller more padded straps and a little more height. I feel like the current dimensions are more suited to a lady than a gentleman per se; but perhaps that is just a bias from the vast majority of bag packs I've had before that had to be big enough to survive a medical student's books and things.

I will certainly be making a repeat purchase from Suave Kenya (possibly for a friend)...but first, I should probably start by sampling one of their messenger bags for myself. I think I could eventually end up using it as my "doctor's bag". They retail at the same price as the bag packs - sh. 3500 - with free delivery in some parts of Nairobi (best contact them first at 0726352001 to find out if you're eligible for this offer). I'll be making my choice between models ML-71, ML-74 and ML-75.

Note: The messenger bag on offer is the 13'' version. I hear there's a 15'' version that retails at sh. 4500, but I guess I can look into that later.

God Bless