EASTPAK x La Cambre

Eight designers, one icon, and infinite interpretations.
What happens when eight emerging fashion designers are given the same object and complete creative freedom?

Learn more about La Cambre

This year, Eastpak partnered with La Cambre, one of Belgium's leading fashion schools, to invite eight students to reinterpret the iconic Eastpak Day Pak'r through the lens of their own creative language.

Loïc Bernier, Fantin Delattre, Theodora Hadj, Alexandre Piron, Marie Scerri, Manon Schied, Adrien van Nuffeld’Heynsbroeck, and Lalou Weyrich started from the same backpack in Sunday Grey. Each of them transformed the familiar silhouette into a highly personal expression of their collection, research, and design philosophy.

The result is a project that celebrates individuality, experimentation, and the many ways the next generation of designers are approaching fashion today.

A shared starting point

For this collaboration, the brief was intentionally simple: work from an icon.

The Eastpak Day Pak'r has remained recognizable for decades thanks to its straightforward design and everyday functionality. Rather than creating something from scratch, students were challenged to engage with an existing object: respecting its original function while pushing its possibilities in new directions.

Each designer approached the backpack differently, drawing from themes already present in their collections while exploring how those ideas could translate to a new medium. Some focused on construction and material experimentation. Others explored storytelling, personal narratives, sculptural forms, or handcrafted techniques.

Many viewed the backpack as an extension of their collection rather than a standalone object. Instead of treating it as an accessory, they approached it as another canvas through which to communicate their creative world.
Elements such as silhouettes, textile treatments, construction techniques, and recurring motifs from their collections found new life on the backpack.

In our exchange with students, they shared that their challenge was about balancing creativity and functionality, ensuring that their interpretation enhanced rather than compromised the object’s original purpose.

The Power of Different Perspectives

Ultimately, the project reveals the richness of perspectives emerging from the next generation of designers.

While each interpretation is distinct, together they demonstrate how fashion continues to evolve through experimentation, craftsmanship, storytelling, and a thoughtful balance between creativity and function. More than a customization exercise, the collaboration became a reflection of the diverse voices shaping the future of design.

*The pieces created as part of this project are unique creative explorations and are not available for purchase.