IMARUSI

Sunday whites.

Slow Island mornings, August 2023

VERSATILITY OF A TOTE BAG / Story of L. L. Bean Boat and Tote

Items designed with sufficient quality and durability do not need to be optimised. They defy every new time and change – simply, they are good enough from the start. One such thing is the L.L. Bean bag, the first tote bag (from tote – to carry). The versatile bag comes in many versions, from simple and practical canvas bags to luxurious variations of major fashion houses. The name dates to the 17th century, but the first official variation of the bag was not designed before the 1940s in Maine, USA. The iconic brand L. L. Bean, which rose to prominence by making durable outdoor products, debuted in 1944 with Bean's Ice Carrier bag. It was a large, boxy bag made of heavy canvas. It was made, as the name suggests, "for transporting ice from the car to the ice chest". Almost eighty years later, the production and composition of the L.L. Bean bag has not changed.

IMARUSI | VERSATILITY OF A TOTE BAG Items designed with sufficient quality and durability do not need to be optimised. They defy every new time and change – simply, they are good enough from the start. One such thing is the L.L. Bean bag, the first tote bag (from tote – to carry). The versatile bag comes in many versions, from sim...

A TIRELESS TENNIS SPECTATOR / Jean-Paul Belmondo is remembered as a great actor who appeared in nearly a hundred films, the leader of the French new wave (after the great Jean-Luc Godard's A bout de souffle), and a charming Parisian who conquered everybody with his appearance. "Bébel," as he was fondly referred to, rose to popularity in the 1960s, and by the 1970s, he had become a symbol of French cinema, as well as a "national treasure of France." In addition to acting, he enjoyed sports, including tennis, football, and boxing. Indeed, during the last years of his life, the actor who died two years ago could practically only be seen at the Roland Garros tennis tournament. Belmondo spent the last week of May and the first week of June in the west of Paris, following his tennis idols. An anecdote from the 1996 semi-finals confirms his dedication to tennis, when Swiss tennis player Marc Rosset gifted him his racket at the end of the match, saying, "Given that I have been seeing his face for years every day during the fifteen days of the tournament, Jean-Paul is like a friend!" Last year, the first Roland Garros was held without a famous actor. There was a framed photo of him in the spot where he would have sat as proof of his passion and love for tennis.

ROLAND-GARROS

IMARUSI | A TIRELESS TENNIS SPECTATOR Jean-Paul Belmondo is remembered as a great actor who appeared in nearly a hundred films, the leader of the French new wave (after the great Jean-Luc Godard's A bout de souffle), and a charming Parisian who conquered everybody with his appearance. "Bébel," as he was fondly referred to, rose to popu...