Once a utilitarian accessory for the intrepid explorer, the backpack is now essential kit for the urban flâneur. All credit to Montblanc for coming up with one equally suitable for both
Montblanc Envelope backpack in caramel suede calfskin leather
Here’s a curious fact about backpacks – humans invented them at least as long ago as we did writing and the wheel. One of the earliest examples belonged to Ötzi the Iceman, a 5,300-year-old mummy discovered on the Austrian-Italian border in 1991. Thanks to backpacks’ key traits –hands-free mobility, load distribution, versatile storage capacities – they’ve spent most of their five-millennia-plus existence as a crucial accessory for dauntless adventurers.
Over the past couple of decades, though, luxury labels have come up with examples more suited to the boardroom than the back country. Now, Montblanc – the German brand founded in 1906 as a maker of high-quality writing instruments – has dropped some backpacks which, being as stylish as they are suited to life’s less pampered travel experiences, tick both boxes.
Starting at around £2,350, Montblanc’s Envelope backpacks – part of a collection that includes clutch document holders, weekender bags and genderless totes – are available in khaki or caramel suede leather, as well as a hazelnut-hued grain leather. Robust and durable, they have generously sized external pockets secured by a fold overflap which, thanks to the suppleness of materials, sits flush: hence the “envelope” part of the name which, along with the pen-nib-shaped handle details, alludes to Montblanc’s origins.
