The roll-top backpack is fast becoming a commuter classic – especially for those knights of the road who whizz to and from the office on two wheels. Constructed in super-tough and completely waterproof PU-coated polyester, this version from RAINS combines everyday practicality with a great big dose of minimalist Scandi cool. The roll-top opening is secured with compression snaps and a handsome clip strap, while a quick-access front pocket has a rain-proof zip to protect your phone and other small essentials. As a bonus, it's also really comfortable to carry – with a padded air-mesh back panel, adjustable padded backpack straps, and a sternum strap for a secure fit. Whether you make your way to work on a metal steed or Shanks's pony, the RAINS rolltop will shield your stuff from the most torrential downpours and look good doing it.
There can’t be many outdoor brands gracing the runways at Paris Fashion Week, but RAINS is one of them. Fear not though – stylish as they are, the unisex jackets and bags from this up-and-coming Danish company are firmly rooted in heavy weather and Scandi heritage.
The Danes know a thing or two about rainwear, after all. Copenhagen gets an average of 170 rainy days a year, and since time immemorial, the classic rubberised cotton slicker has been the nation’s wet-weather armour of choice. When RAINS co-founders Philip Lotko and Daniel Brix Hesselager met at one of Denmark's largest textile and design schools, they wanted to take this Viking icon and turn it into something more contemporary. They started out in 2012 with a rain poncho, and quickly expanded into a range of raincoats and water-resistant bags – all in their signature ‘neo-Scandinavian’ style.
They’re textile designers at heart, and that’s where RAINS really shows its class. The specially developed matte-finish PU fabrics are lightweight and waterproof, with ultrasonically welded seams and ventilation carefully designed in.
Fashionable this stuff might be, but fast fashion it certainly isn’t. RAINS’s commitment to ethical and sustainable working stretches from the conditions in their partner factories to their transport logistics and even the lighting in their offices and shops. And at the heart of that, of course, are products that are built to last. If you do eventually manage to wear them out, RAINS will even trade you store credit when you return them for recycling.
