When I was a kid my dad always carried a briefcase, and I loved it. It seemed to have such a sense of importance, like secrets were held behind its locks. This is where my love of bags comes from, a love that has grown in the past few years. So when presented with the opportunity to get a hold of the Apolis Activism + C.C. Filson Philanthropist briefcase Matt and I jumped.
This bag is so much more than just a bag, it’s a story. Constructed in Seattle by 100-year-old manufacturer C.C. Filson Co. (famous for making gear for miners, loggers, and hunters) with cotton from Jinja, Uganda as a part of the charity Invisible Children’s Ugandan cotton initiative (created to provide opportunities for Ugandan industry to grow), it’s the perfect combination of classic construction mixed with modern social awareness.
The Philanthropist bag has been featured in just about every major men’s print and online publication (GQ, Free and Easy, A Continuous Lean, and Secret Forts to name some of my favorites) and was made in a limited quantity of 400, of which each bag is numbered.
Recently bags for men have gotten a pretty bad wrap, we’ve all heard the terms man bag or man purse, but this is anything but a purse. (C.C. Filson was actually a railroad conductor during the turn on the century, I have a feeling he wasn’t picturing a guy with a faux hawk carrying one of his bags) It’s made to be worn and worn with a conscience, supporting several local economies in the US and Africa.