Alberto Guardiani and Wallpaper* Launch New Luggage Range for Milan Design Week

MILAN, April 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Leading Italian shoe manufacturer Alberto Guardiani launches a new luggage range, designed by London-based designer André Klauser and commissioned by international design magazine Wallpaper*, during Milan Design Week.

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130417/608138 )

Designed around a travel theme and produced in an elegant but hard-wearing canvas, Klauser's capsule luggage range includes a large overnight hold-all incorporating a shoe compartment and featuring an opening designed to mimic the shape of an unworn loafer, a travel document sleeve and a tablet sleeve.

This new collaboration between Alberto Guardiani and Wallpaper* follows the launch of a successful footwear range available online to mark the 30^th anniversary of the Alberto Guardiani brand's menswear adventure in 2011. Loafers and lace-ups in suede and hi-tech fabrics by Schoeller Textiles were produced in conjunction with former Wallpaper* fashion director Sébastien Clivaz (now at Christian Dior) and London bespoke tailors Thom Sweeney, while graphic designers Revenge is Sweet created a distinctive shoe box. The collection was followed a season later by more shoes in adventurous colour ways and a specially commissioned belt by Lausanne-based industrial designer Xavier Perrenoud.

To design the new travel range, Wallpaper* chose Hanover-born, Royal College of Art-educated designer André Klauser, who once worked under Jasper Morrison. Now established in his own studio in East London, Klauser had already impressed Wallpaper* editors with his eco-friendly 'Mechano' chair and ingenious 'Trivet Stick' for keeping scalding hot pans off a work surface.

Of the range, Klauser says: 'The central piece of the collection is the travel bag. It is dimensioned to fit the essentials for a short trip and small enough to take on board a plane as hand luggage. The basic shape of the bag is inspired by the uncomplicated tote bags that have become so familiar in recent years. The design references formal details and materials of the Alberto Guardiani Wallpaper* Limited Edition shoes, such as the reinforced bottom panel made from shoe sole leather. A simple document sleeve, a tablet and a laptop cover, all referencing postal envelopes, add to the collection.'

Alberto Guardiani Digital PR
Elisabeth Cook
digitalpr@albertoguardiani.it
+39-02796385