Tropical Forest Sweet & Candy Backpack

A black and burgundy backpack with a tropical print

Seen from the front, the bag reads as a set of blocks rather than one surface. Grained black holds the flap and the right-hand side, a deep burgundy outlines the edges, the straps and the handle, and printed panels fill the sides. White topstitching along the burgundy edges keeps those blocks apart instead of letting them blur. The Sweet & Candy name sits at the centre of the flap, written in a silver-coloured metal script. Still weighing up shapes? It is worth seeing what else you can wear on both shoulders before you settle on one.

28x28x12 cm, a near-square outline

28x28x12 cm means it is as wide as it is tall, which is why it reads as a square on the back rather than a column. There is also a burgundy handle stitched along the top, and that is the one you reach for when the bag is only moving from the hallway to the passenger seat.

The flap, the buckled straps and the side cords

Two burgundy straps run up from the body to meet silver buckles, each one flanked by a pair of round rivets, and the rounded flap settles over them. The sides are drawn in by cords that finish in a knot and are left hanging rather than tucked away. The front pocket opens on a zip that runs straight across, just under the flap.

What the front pocket puts on show

Most of the drawing is concentrated here. A fawn and a spotted leopard face each other across a pale pink ground planted with ferns, palms and small flowers. Between the two animals, a few lines have been written by hand, and a black disc with a stitched edge breaks into the pattern on the right.

Round the back, the palms turn blue

The rear is pieced together from several panels rather than cut from one. Matt black sits in the middle, a print of blue and coral palms fills the left, and a burgundy strip is sewn across at waist height for the straps to pass through. Another zip, this one vertical, hides a pocket along the left-hand edge. The two adjustable burgundy shoulder straps are held by silver sliders near the top and anchored low down on the body.

What the black lets you get away with

Because the base is so dark, the illustration behaves like a piece of colour rather than a pattern in charge: it lifts a black coat, straight jeans or a plain dress without demanding a whole outfit built around it. The burgundy answers brown boots or a red scarf, and the pale pink of the pocket is often the only warm note in a winter wardrobe. Several other bags here are built the same way, and they are grouped among the ones with a drawing across the front.