Future Perfect

Japanese designer Daisuke Iwanaga creates next year's It bag. By Rabia Ahmad

Whether it's the futurist attitude of Gwen Stefani or the demure femininity of Sofia Coppola, one can easily spot the influential role the Japanese play on trends descending on the western world. Always ahead of the times, the Japanese have made significant headway in the fashion arena, constantly reinventing their street cred. By the time Paris or L.A. have caught on, the look is already morphing into something else entirely.

Coining a distinctive effortlessly disheveled yet luxurious style, the latest Japanese urban trends have taken the art of no-fuss alternative clothing and combined it with a contemporary yet elegant edge. Using handbags as his preferred artistic medium is one of Japan's latest fashion prodigies, Daisuke Iwanaga, who recently launched an enviable line of duffels and hobo-style shoulder bags. Currently limiting his production to made-to-order, Iwanaga is in the process of expanding his line's availability to select New York and Los Angeles boutiques. Merging distressed slouchy leathers with lavish inventive shapes and details, Iwanaga captures a paradoxically gorgeous handbag that one can take from power-lunching on Park Avenue to drafts at a dive bar on Avenue B.

Already the creator of a bag with buzz, the Ostrich Duffel has of late emerged the dream ticket of totes. This sturdy yet beautifully relaxed carryall is fashioned from stitched-together mismatched pieces of worn, smooth, and textured Ostrich leather. The result is a design that's quietly decadent but also insinuates you didn't just catch on to this bag yesterday. You were hip to it your whole life.

Japanese designer Daisuke Iwanaga creates next year's It bag.