The Herald NZ
A Brisbane designer has reinvented the humble bum bag
Making bum bags fashionable again is no mean feat.
The much-ridiculed staple of many a 1980s wardrobe has been tarred with the daggy brush since it went the way of rollerblades and wraparound sunglasses.
But the fact is, active wear is big business and many leggings don't come with a big enough pocket for all the crap you want to lug about.
Sure, there's that little pocket for your house key, but you aren't fitting sunglasses/bank card/mobile phone and other miscellaneous debris in that mini-pocket fit for ants.
Many a woman has found herself stuffing cash in her bra or down her pants to solve the issue. Hardly ideal.
So Brisbane designer Emily Bitkow, 29, took it upon herself to reinvent the ever-practical "fanny pack".
* Cringe at the word "fanny"*
"Sometimes you don't always want to take a bag with you," she explains.
"When you are on the move all you want to take are the bare essentials: your phone, credit card, keys and money."
She felt that modern women needed something more sophisticated than an arm band or a traditional bum bag - it needed to be fashionable and carry the essentials when going for a walk, a run or shopping.
She eventually developed the Vivra pouch that differs from a traditional bum bag in that it attaches to your pants with magnets, instead of being strapped around your waist.
This means it doesn't bounce all over the place when you go for a run.
Made from water-resistant fabric and with a patented bi-fold design, the pouch folds over the waistband of any garment with neodymium magnets.
Bitkow claimed this means credit cards and mobile phones won't be affected and that the pouch won't move an inch, even during rigorous physical activity, according to Ragtrader.
It also has a reflective strip for those who run at night.
