The story behind WREN and the PPC Cement Laptop Bag, our first paper bag, came about in a rather spider-web connected-ideas moment.
Wendren Setzer, Wren’s founder, was on her way to order shoes (pumps to be specific) from a local shoe manufacturing factory. They offered her a tour of the factory and showed her how they were made. As a curious and creative persion she wondered if it were possible to take paper and make it strong like they were making satin for ballet shoes. one random day and they were showing me how they made them. Part of the procedure is to fuse the desired outer fabric to a cotton to make the fabric stronger and more suitable for the purpose. Curious as to what else this technical fabric would be used for I asked for some.
She isn’t sure anymore which can before the other or even if they came at the same time but she was driving along a highway behind a cement truck and she noticed the packaging, more specifically, the very graphic elephant logo of Pretoria Portland Cement. She thought “that would make a cool bag”. She got hold of an empty PPC cement bag and experimented fusing it to fabric and taking it to her sewing machine. It really was an opportunity, experiment and idea that all came together. Today this fusion of paper, fabric and nano (the coating to make the bag water resistant) is trademarked ProtectPaper®.
Once Wendren had a prototype she contacted PPC for their permission to use their packaging and the rest is history. “It reminded me of something I had written before “Inspiration is all around you, you’ve just keep your eyes and mind open to possibilities” she says.
So how do we make the bags now? An unused Pretoria Portland Cement paper bag is the beginning of each piece. We use unused cement packaging Production takes a while, but it’s worth it. We separate the layers that make up a cement packet, remove the top and third layer of the bag and fuse them together. Bonding them with black cotton means that durability is never compromised. From there, you can treat it like any other fabric. We draw the pattern, cut it and stitch the bag together.
The PPC Cement Laptop Bag is as practical as you can get. There are two sections and two pockets: carry your laptop cables in one pocket and a phone or mouse in the other. A padded divider separates your laptop from any other papers or notes, and the entire inside of the bag is also padded to protect everything that you carry inside it.
The bag closes with two magnets discreetly hidden on the flap.
The bags were originally coated with 3M scotchguard but we really wanted to use a more environmentally friendly product. After months of searching and testing we found a concentration of nano tech liquid glass that coats the surface with a really thin film that water, dirt and/or oil cannot penetrate, and works on the cement packaging paper.
Nano liquid glass is a revolutionary product that, in a really simple description, coats the surface so that it is hydrophobic (water repellent) in the same way that a lotus leaf is. It is completely invisible, unlike other coatings, and does not change the texture of the surface or impair it’s ability to breathe. It also enhances colour strength and makes the coated surface easier to clean without the use of detergents. It couldn’t be more perfect.