This show almost didn’t happen as designer and artist, K.D. Waltner went home to Germany for Christmas and there was some kind of Visa tangle on the way back. Lucky for us Waltner’s back in PDX and the show goes on at Tilde (7919 SE 13th) with an opening reception tonight, Friday, January 4 from 6-9 PM for an exhibition of his one-of-a-kind, handpainted Trapez bags.
What makes these bags interesting is that the “canvas” for Waltner’s brash brushstrokes is actually rugged technical fabric. So while they may not look it, these bags are about function with room for all that need be carried. And check the interesting construction with the all-access front zip. The name Trapez here is apt: it’s not a stretch to see art and smart design as the two legs of the trapezoid that Waltner’s adopted as both logo and form of his bags (trapez is trapezoid in German).
Waltner headed up apparel design for Adidas US and is currently Global Design Director of Running Apparel for Nike. See the full range of his custom bags on his website and stay tuned as more are in development.
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