Bag Week: Daame Bags

While I can’t say that Daame Bags are the best daame bags we’ve tested (see what I did there?), I can say that they are definitely an interesting rethinking of the women’s laptop bag.

We tested two types – a wide leather laptop tote and other 13-inch model. I showed both of these to a human woman, my wife, who said that she liked the elegant and spare design but noted they had a bit of a new car smell when they came out of the box, something that might have turned her off if she handled the bag in the store. However, that could have come from the packaging.

The bags are handmade in the USA of real leather outside a special recycled inner lining. The insides are a pleasing sea green while the grey exterior is decorated only with an embossed Daame logo. The company also has a message of philanthropy. “We give 5% of all profits to our partners who are dedicated to providing long-term services and education for girls in impoverished circumstances,” writes the founder, Mille Yu. That’s a noble thing.

The Daame origin was bred of necessity. Yu was looking for a bag that looked stylish but still could hold a full laptop and charger.

“After significant amount of search, I left Polyvore to begin R&D work and launched a selection of products early this year that combines style and usability,” said Yu. “One of the unique qualities of the product is the lining that is specially engineered to be resilient to stains, bacterial, liquid (even beer) and is easy to clean.”

In truth, these don’t look like laptop bags. The leather is soft and supple and barring the smell, there was little my wife didn’t like. There is a large inner pouch for your laptop along with smaller pouches for phones and the like. The rest of your items – your notebooks, pens, etc. – can fit a smaller pouch or just hang out in another main compartment. My wife said she would have preferred a few more inside pockets but understood the limitations.

Now for the bad news: the bags start at $395 and go up to $495. That’s definitely not high for a leather bag but it is high for a laptop bag. To be clear, you’re paying for a useful, handmade, and nicely designed fashion item with an interesting message. Compared to some nylon monstrosities we’ve used so far, this is by far the nicest of the bunch. You can check them out here.

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