Lifestyle and travel bags and accessories tough enough for all your needs

 

Whether you're planning a summer getaway, thinking about spring break, or just need somewhere to stow your laptop during your daily commute, there's no denying the importance of a great, functional bag. Finding one can sometimes be a hassle, but we're here to help narrow down your search even more with a brand you should know: Lexdray.

Founded by Alex Drayer in 2008, Lexdray offers the kind of smart design, expert craftsmanship and high-quality fabrics and materials to ensure that their bags look good, meet all of your needs and will last for years.

We spoke with Alex to get the 411 on how Lexdray began, what's new, and where the brand is headed.

Tell us a bit about your background and what brought you to start Lexdray?

Having traveled quite a bit in my life, I’ve come to appreciate the finer points of a really good bag. I’ve long been inspired by Japanese craftsmanship and superior fabrications. I’m constantly studying bags, and I’ve kept close tabs on all the things I wished a handsome, modern bag could offer, but never did.

In 2008 I was living in New York City, consulting for a few retail brands, sports marketing firms and private aviation companies. I was surrounded by creativity, ingenuity, and a burgeoning streetwear culture, which has long been a passion of mine. All of this combined with knowledge of the retail landscape, connections to a few key boutiques and my friends in media, encouraged me to develop my own brand.

 

If you had to summarize the Lexdray ethos or point of view in a sentence or two, what would it be?

Designed to push the boundaries between utility and style, our bags and accessories bring a sense of understated functionality to everyday life. Produced in limited runs, our products are a unique mix of street, design and technical elements that complement a diverse range of lifestyles.

What do you see as Lexdray's signature product?

Our signature product has proven to be our Boulder Pack, which is an understated all-purpose backpack for professionals, creatives and students alike. I designed this pack for a 45 year-old financier on Wall Street to utilize each day while heading to office, but also for an 18 year-old California surfer to take to a morning surf. It’s been such a popular pack that we ended up creating the Vienna Pack for Spring / Summer 2015, as well. The Vienna is essentially the same pack as the Boulder, with an additional front zipper pocket for extra storage.

Who do you design for?

Our Lexdray muse is packing his final essentials for his upcoming trip from his hometown of Los Angeles to Tokyo. He just got back from a routine early surf in Malibu. While in Tokyo, he'll be taking business meetings, hanging with friends and staying active. He's laid back, imaginative, and he loves to explore the outdoors on foot or on his bike. He loves golf, playing basketball, snowboarding, hiking, being creative and feeling the music. He works hard and plays hard. He is inspiring, always looking for the next journey. He's stylish, sophisticated and comfortable with who he is. He's savvy, knows technology, but isn't ruled by it. He's always up for trying something new and going someplace he's never been.

Where do you source your materials and where is the product made?

We source our materials both domestically and abroad. Ultimately we are almost always able to find the materials we source in China, where our product is produced. We work with a factory who produces an extremely high quality product on our behalf. Our bags are exceptionally complicated with multiple layers and details on every piece. Our Boulder Pack for example, mentioned above, utilizes almost a hundred different materials.

What are you most excited about from your current Lexdray offering?

We have a lot of exciting things going on right now at Lexdray. We just announced our brand has become the Official Luggage Provider of the Major League Baseball Players Association. I view this partnership as a truly unique opportunity and I am hoping it helps legitimize our brand even further. We are also coming up on mix #50 of our Lexdray City Series mix program. We have an amazing DJ set for the milestone mix, and we are constantly throwing around new ideas to create a deeper footprint in the music world. In addition, we are getting set for the launch of our F/W 2015 Collection, which incorporates a new primary exterior fabric, plus a collaboration with Project Cobalt.

What's next for Lexdray?

We have a brand new technical apparel line launching on September 1st. I’m pretty excited about this, as it’s my first venture with apparel. The collection is a trio of versatile sweatshirts designed to be everyone’s favorite travel staples. Just like our bags, the outerwear merges utility and style and features lots of thoughtful details and hidden elements, as well as military grade hardware and durable fabrics. In addition, they are perfectly tailored and constructed of heavyweight yet breathable fleece-lined cotton with a water repellent protective finish. Each is limited to 100 units per style and will be available on our website as well as a few select retail partners around the world.

By Steve Dool

Men's Fashion Expert