The history of O bag: the Italian brand with a focus on personality

One of the main values of the Alyssa Ashley brand is freedom. Freedom in its most absolute form, but mostly the freedom to be who you want to be: proud of your personality and of yourself. Those who know me know this too: my fragrances, since the beginning, were conceived to respect these values and highlight every personality, whichever it may be, in the best possible way, giving you the opportunity to be who you want to be.

A growing number of brands believe in this idea, expressing a philosophy of freedom of identity that has by now become their strength and unique selling point. It may seem less important for the industry of beauty and fashion, which is by many still considered linked to appearance rather than essence, but actually the theme of the affirmation of one’s personality and choices has never been so central.

A brand who knows this very well is O bag, a brand made 100% in Italy, with which I decided to collaborate, in order to give shape to the invisible accessory par excellence: perfume.

O bag and Italian excellence

The company was created in 2009, when the first modular silicon watch was presented at the Milan Furniture Fair in 2010. The simple character of the object was perfect for what became the top feature and the guideline for all the subsequent production: personalisation and collectability.

The O bag, a modular bag made of resistant plastic materials, was born in 2012, from the same successful intuition. Offering the consumer the possibility to “create” the combination for their own object, gave them a unique, entirely personal and representative object. In this world, where expressing oneself, one’s personality and style is inalienable, O bag managed to present a designer object which is both basic and brilliant. The O bag’s success then pushed the company to go forward and try something new, by adding a line of slippers, one of wallets and glasses.

The idea’s success came from putting together personalisation and the possibility to collect the various elements needed to make the finished product, thanks to the low price of the products. This allows us to create a new product every time, which can be matched not only with a certain outfit, but also with one’s mood or personality, keeping it original.

In perfumery, the technique of layering (when done well) transforms the amateur, just for a short period of time, into a nose, who juxtaposes two or more fragrances to create a new one, chosen according to the inspiration of the moment. And Musk is one of those elements which has always been an important part of layering, thanks to its extremely versatile note, suitable for matches with any other olfactory nuance to make the fragrance more persistent.

We can easily say the O bag expresses the same concept: matching components (frame, handles, internal fabric) according to the same needs. This is where the concept of collecting the elements that better represent one of the infinite fragments of our personality comes from.

10 years of bags made in Italy

One of the aspects the brand is most proud of, is its 100% Italian production chain. Starting with design, moving onto production and the choice of the materials: all of this is done between Veneto (where the company’s CEO was born, in Padova), Lombardy and Marche.

We felt celebrating the first 1O years of a brand that celebrates Italian creativity above all, was the right thing to do. In September, the brand launched the new O bag doc, whose name comes from the classic “doctor’s bag”. It’s a bag designed for modern women: a resistant, capacious, designer bag. The main idea is to create a product that can renew itself in time and that will allow the customer to express their creativity and taste, with unique matches.

Sustainable innovation

Renewal isn’t a casual word. A product’s need to “renew” itself has become unavoidable for buyers, therefore for producers too. The need to protect our planet and its inhabitants is an important factor, leading consumers’ choices.

Products need to be created envisioning the before, during and after of its whole life cycle, from their production to their disposal.

O bag didn’t just sit and watch, and it immediately started promoting a green and sustainable chemistry.

How can a bag apparently made of plastic materials be sustainable? Thanks to a material born from an Italian research.

A material called XL EXTRALIGHT®, a closed-cell foam, which is super-light, hyper resistant and most of all sustainable: it contains no heavy metals, phthalates, chromium, cadmium or poisonous substances.

It’s produced by a company in Macerata, powered with renewable energy and limiting the CO2 emissions caused by producing electricity, and where rejected items are reused to make new manufacts, reducing the use of both fossil and natural resources.

All the O bag frames and shoes are made in XL EXTRALIGHT®, but the materials used to make sunglasses and accessories also comply with the company’s green philosophy.

The sunglasses are made in a organic-compatible plastic material, which is 100% recyclable, while the paper shopper bags are made from responsibly-managed forests who also take care of reforestation.

This is fashion that can also be sustainable, while respecting humans and their planet.

The brand’s latest innovations push forward in this direction:

● The packaging of the O bag slippers is 100% recyclable Green PE

● All the fur the brand uses to decorate the bag frames or other components is synthetic. O bag has agreed to the FurFree Retailer Program launched by the Fur Free Alliance together with LAV (anti-vivisection league)

● Operation “CHIUDI IL CERCHIO” (“CLOSE THE CIRCLE”) which sees the bags as products you can return, returned bag frames that are not used anymore can be transformed into something useful for the environment or society, such as playmats and modular childrens’ rugs, for the association Associazione Progetto Mozambico Onlus.

O bag is a vivacious company who moves towards research and innovation, to always be updated and competitive. But it’s also a company who can cater to the, not always evident, needs of the consumers. One of those who see objects as an extension of our personality which, therefore, help us express it.

My Musk by Alyssa Ashley first came out into the world with the same values, in a different historical context, but they are always valid. I chose to tie my name together with O bag because I felt there is a link between us, even though we come from different industries.

What do you think about this? Do you also believe our personalities have many different aspects and that all of them need to be highlighted in the best possible way? Choose two cult objects as a gift for yourself, or choose them as a gift for someone else so they can find out about this world!