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In January 2022, I interviewed Yael Rosen – Ben Shahar, the woman behind the local bag brand ‘Kisim’ for 23 years, in honor of our first collaboration (she was the one who taught me that a bag is actually a transitory object).
This week we are working together again, that is:
***The shelly15 coupon comes back to life and will give you a 15% discount until Saturday, 2/22 at midnight***
The fine print:
– The code is valid on the website and in the store in Basel, and it’s a good opportunity to pop in there for the morning with yourself or with a friend (on the menu: full of affordable clothing stores, cafes and flowers to take home).
– Another reason to come to the store: there are new bags there that have not yet been uploaded to the website.
– No double discounts.
– If you fell in love with a bag that is missing from stock, some of them can still be ordered. Worth finding out:
The studio’s WhatsApp 054-5633046, the store in Basel: 03-9444577
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For those who missed the last timehere is a link to an interview with Yael, including the story about the appearance of the iconic ‘pockets’ cube bag in the Sex and the City series.
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Fitting women’s transitional items for 23 years. How It Works?
Yael: “I was born into a family of women, we are 3 sister-friends, I have a circle of very close childhood friends and another circle of women that we travel with. I am a big believer in benevolent female power. I was privileged to be surrounded by impressive women who are a great inspiration and a pleasant comfort. I believe that this silence is part of the understanding of what women need and want – in their lives as in their cases. I believe that a woman’s bag is like a house on the body, containing our personal belongings. what we need throughout the day. It’s not just that I say that a bag is an object of female transit.’
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And there is also private shopping by sizes:
cross case
size: Little.
Advantages: Contains exactly what you need (assuming you don’t think you have to carry around everywhere with wipes, a water bottle and a hardcover reading book) leaves your hands free, doesn’t slip off your shoulder and remains available for quick retrieval at all times.
in brief: The bag I’m always looking for.
Example options: (from left to right) a small Lawrence Cross bag that holds a lot and also has an inner compartment with a zipper /// Lady Dee bag, named after Yael’s mother, a classic leather bag at a really surprising price /// Lila Cross bag, the bag I’ve been eyeing for the past year, Defined on the website as an evening bag, but for me it has room for everything I need and it doesn’t weigh on my shoulders. Last time it sold out pretty quickly. Mentions this fact for the benefit of those who have difficulty making decisions. By the way, these three bags have larger versions.
Backpack
size: big.
advantages: Contains everything you think you need and everything you know you don’t need and still feel you should.
Example options: (from left to right) Uno bag, leather and with all kinds of practical inner pockets. I especially like the camel version of it /// Raspberry bag, a vegan bag that is both back and side, made of such light material that it is almost weightless when empty /// Omega, also a vegan bag with lots of space, including space for a laptop. A perfect bag for flights, one that you can put a lot of things in and is still elegant and minimalistic enough that it’s fun to walk around with it in Paris or New York and be asked on the street where it’s from.
By the way, flights: Bags to travel with
size: All kinds of sizes.
Advantages: Having a really nice travel bag or toiletry bag at home is one of the things you start to appreciate at a certain age. Which also makes them a worthwhile gift.
Example options: (from left to right) The ultimate travel bag, there isn’t much left of it but I still recommend it /// A tiny bag to take with you abroad or for a night in Tel Aviv, works as an evening bag but is also suitable for the day for those who don’t need to take more than reading glasses or sunglasses with them , a small wallet and the hotel key card /// a toiletry bag that comes with two other small bags for things you don’t want to get mixed up with everything else. I just traveled with it to France and it has room for everything, including a hair brush and a body cream that is too big and it is not clear why I am taking it abroad with me.
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If you don’t want it to stay in the bag, don’t put it in the bag.
It may sound like a motto for handbags, but it’s a motto for life.
Big bags encourage you to put things in the bag that you don’t want to accidentally find later, after you forgot you put them there (eg a green apple, a half-eaten lollipop from children whose concentration isn’t even enough to focus on the task of eliminating a lollipop, something made of paper that someone gave Walk down the street and think putting it in your bag is a more logical action than saying “no, thanks”).
(Things I wrote myself in a post from 2019)
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A basic requirement for a bag: that it leaves both hands free.