Jessica Ogden TomTom handbag review

18 October 2005 0:17 GMT / By Charlie Brewer

Renowned clothing and accessory designer Jessica Odgen has teamed up with GPS navigation supremos TomTom to make a designer shoulder bag for a piece of technology that's not an iPod!

Paris based Ogden has been a leading couture designer for the last decade and describes this latest collaboration as "Add(ing) a fashionable yet functional element to TomTom GO and MOBILE 5".

Throwing further weight into the partnership, Ogden and TomTom have initiated a competition to entice the next generation of budding designers from the UK, France and Italy to come up with their own innovative bags for the TomTom range, with part of the prize being a placement in Ogdens' London studio.

The body of the Ogden handbag is made of canvas with a rectangular painted wooden frame, providing both rigidity and shape to the top, by the opening. Each bag has a hand crocheted panel on the front as well as along the lining of the shoulder straps. A small, free-hanging croqueted bag is attached to the exterior, designed to hold the TomTom MOBILE5 GPS receiver, when in use.

Inside the bag large and small removable drawstring pouches are provided, the larger designed for the TomTom Go unit and the smaller for when the MOBILE 5's GPS unit is not needed. Both the lining of the main bag and material of the drawstring bags carry the distinctive pair of hands that make up the TomTom logo.

The bag looks great, if you like that style of rigid frame and the whole affair is surprisingly lightweight, when unloaded, and spacious enough to stash the kitchen sink when filled.

Verdict

Overall a great looking accessory designed for the snazzy about town in need of somewhere to place their GPS. The cynic in me says that the kind of people the bag is aimed at though will leave the GPS in the glove compartment and put a stick of lipstick in the dedicated pouches.

Score

Review Recap

Made by: TomTom
Price as reviewed: £300
The good: Each bag is hand made, pouches for technology, spacious interior
The bad: Cost
Quick verdict: Bringing GPS systems to the designer masses. An attractive alternative to the boring black carry cases
Score