This great unisex bag is from our designer collaboration with Juun.J

Brown leather shoulder tote with wallet on detachable leather strap, front zipped compartment and strap/buckle detailing. Chunky gold zipper. This edgy modern bag has an easy to wear feel with an urban look.

Click here to buy it now. Price: GBP 770

Style Guide: Chunky knit cardigan by Chloe, Emmeline square-frame metal sunglasses by Tom Ford, Zip-front stretch leggings by Alexander Wang, Leather lace-up boots by Bottega Veneta, Heart stud earrings by Vivienne Westwood, leather bag by Chris&Tibor + Juun.J

Hoxton Square is in the heart of Shoreditch, the most exciting place in today’s London. Location for the most fashionable clubs, restaurants and galleries. The place where fashion is happening, home base for most of the british fashion designers, including Giles Deacon, Gareth Pugh, Christopher Kane, Marios Schwab, Richard Nicoll and others…well the list is really endless… Although Chris&Tibor studio is in Dalston now, but we have started from Hoxton Square. We used to work in the 11 Hoxton Square, just above Zigfrid club.

So you will understand how excited we are, when our favorite london based architect Zaha Hadid has finally received a planning permission for a Hoxton Sq building, despite the opposition and a long 4 years dispute with the English Heritage. The gallery and apartment block is for the US art dealer Kenny Schachter. This project will be Hadid’s first permanent building in England, and is aiming to be completed before Hadid’s Aquatic Centre for the 2012 London Olympic Games. We really cannot wait for the building to be finished, we might move our studio back to Hoxton Square, but this time to Hadid’s building.

Fashion History! Did you know?: In 2007, Karl Lagerfeld personally commissioned Hadid to design a mobile, collapsible exhibition pod for Chanel. Chanel Mobile Art is a travelling building and exhibition where different artists has created works based around Chanel’s back catalogue of iconic leather handbags. Hadid also designed limited collections for Vivienne Westwood and Melissa shoes.

Words: Naomi Attwood, photography and styling: Britta Burger.

“Riddle me this one reader. When you’re looking at a garment or accessory, in this case stylish man-bags, what makes the connection in your mind back to its creator? Some designers have clearer visual signatures than others. There’s no mistaking a Westwood number for example. Despite the slick functional appearance of the Chris & Tibor collections, there’s an unmistakable thread running through the pieces created by Chris Liu and Tibor Matyas, two London based designers producing the kind of bags that they themselves need to facilitate their rapid fire lifestyles.
This year the design duo have worked on not one but four distinct collections. One with Belgian designer Veronique Branquinho – five pieces envisioned for stylish travelling; and another with Korean designer Juun J – shiny bags to complement his menswear pieces. Third, they have collaborated with the French designer/ dancer Romain Kremer on the miniature neck bag and wallet bag which are ideal for promenading avec ipod and packing your party essentials. And then of course, their own very personal collection.
Chris and Tibor name all the products in their own range after locations in London. Their SS09 range is called Angel, after the Angel, Islington. Asked to sum up the collection in three words the boys came up with “Angel, rubber and backpack” and revealed their recommendations for some free time in the capital. “We love to walk around East London and City area, especially a quiet weekend day in the City, it is mixing old and new, and wicked.” Finally, when asked to comment on their urban client base Chris said that, “We love to see someone wearing our bags, we say ‘hello’ to the person as well as the bag like an old friend. Many of Chris & Tibor’s followers are girls who are fed up with girly bags. They are up for something cool, creative, challenging but still luxurious.” Advice then, for those who believe Londoners to be unfriendly? Try wearing a piece of Chris & Tibor and perhaps you’ll get a more positive response in future. For more information see www.christibor.com.”