Inês, The First ReCreate Backpack
The Inês Backpack was the first backpack developed by ReCreate.
Created from reclaimed 100% polyester fabric originally used in a sports event, this piece opened a new direction in the studio’s material research. Unlike the advertising banners often used by ReCreate — denser, more rigid and heavier — this textile brought another kind of behaviour: lightness, flexibility, resistance and movement.
It was a material that asked for a different object.
Inês was designed to adapt to different ways of carrying. It has two types of straps: nylon handles, allowing it to be used over the shoulder like a tote bag, and adjustable recycled cotton straps, allowing it to be worn as a backpack.
This dual function makes it practical for everyday use, travel, short walks or moments when the body needs more freedom.
A Light and Resistant Material
Every new material that arrives at ReCreate brings a question: what can this become?
The polyester fabric used for Inês came from a sports event and revealed qualities that were immediately interesting to explore. It is resistant, light, easy to clean and flexible enough to create a softer structure than many of the studio’s banner-based pieces.
Before Inês, the same material had already been tested in the Gabi Bag, a simple backpack created for children. Because the textile is perforated, it allows airflow, making it useful for carrying trainers, sports items or objects that benefit from ventilation.
Through testing, ReCreate also discovered that the material can be machine washed in cold water and ironed at a low temperature — qualities that make it especially suited to active daily use.
Practical Details, Designed with Intention
The Inês Backpack was developed with function at the centre.
It has a maximum carrying capacity of 4 kg and includes two exterior pockets: one open pocket for quick access and one pocket with a snap closure for small essentials. Inside, a small carabiner keeps keys easy to find, avoiding the familiar search at the bottom of the bag.
These details may seem small, but they define how an object lives with the person who uses it.
At ReCreate, design is shaped by material, but also by gesture: how something is held, opened, carried, washed, filled and used again.
A New Object from a New Material
Inês shows how a material can change the direction of a design.
The reclaimed sports-event textile did not behave like advertising banner, so it could not be treated in the same way. It required another response, another construction logic and another relationship between body and object.
That is where ReCreate’s process begins: not with a fixed idea, but with attention to what the material makes possible.
The Inês Backpack is light, practical and adaptable — a first backpack that carries the same ReCreate principles into a new form: transformation, function, material intelligence and everyday use.
