TuSABE Shoulder Bag

A standard-issue Tulane University canvas tote was taken apart at its seams and rebuilt as a fully functional utility messenger bag. Nothing was wasted. Nothing was hidden. The original canvas, stitching lines, printed branding, and fabric memory of the source object were all retained and integrated into the new form, making the transformation itself part of the design language. The project is rooted in the practice of deconstruction as creative methodology: not destruction, but careful disassembly followed by intentional reconstruction. By honoring the material exactly as found — institutional green canvas, utilitarian typography, the ghost creases of a bag that was folded and carried and stuffed into corners — the piece resists the impulse to erase its origin. The Tulane identity is not a flaw to be designed around. It is the material. The resulting messenger bag recontextualizes that identity entirely. Structured, cross-body, and utility-forward, it carries the visual codes of workwear and functional design while wearing its academic source openly. A campus artifact becomes street-ready. A throwaway object becomes considered craft.