Press Release
Suburbia Eva Duffel Bag by Zhibiao Chen Receives the Bronze A' Design Award in Fashion and Travel Accessories Design
Zhibiao Chen recognized for fashion and travel accessories design by the international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 16, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the Bronze A' Design Award in the Fashion and Travel Accessories Design category for Suburbia Eva Duffel Bag by Zhibiao Chen, designed for Xiamen Idea Star Import & Export Co., Ltd. The award was conferred within the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was decided through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who scored anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
The Bronze A' Design Award Explained
The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.
More About Suburbia Eva Duffel Bag
Suburbia is a duffel bag designed for short business trips. The outer shell uses green RPET fabric made from recycled plastic bottles, and the fabric is water resistant and wear resistant. The front panel and both sides are shaped with EVA one piece molding technology, which creates a pressure resistant three dimensional form inspired by modern architecture and sculpture. The base has three layers of thickened fabric for cushioning. The interior includes a padded laptop sleeve, a wet zone and a shoe compartment. The muted hazy blue colour suits many settings.
About Zhibiao Chen
Zhibiao Chen, male, born in 1980, has been engaged in the international trade of luggage and bags for over 20 years. As a seasoned bag designer with two decades of deep experience in the luggage industry, he has led three original brands — SUBURBIA, LIXER, and DAILY PAPER — and is proficient in the design, development, and product realization of sports, travel, and casual bags. He graduated from Jimei University and completed the CEO Program at Peking University's Guanghua School of Management. He is fluent in both Chinese and English.
Award Record
Zhibiao Chen is a winner of 1 A' Design Award, including this recognition.
About the A' Fashion and Travel Accessories Design Award
The A' Accessory Design Award is an international fashion design competition recognizing good accessory designs by leading designers and brands worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to accessory designers, fashion designers, travel accessory designers and luxury goods manufacturers from all countries. Typical entries include handbags, scarves, belts, luggage, hats and travel bags. The awarded accessory designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/accessory
About A' Design Award & Competition
Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://designers.org/174789
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/174789
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!174789
- Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/371030
- Further Information from the Laureate: http://www.xmidstar.com/
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Suburbia Eva Duffel Bag
- Function
- Eva Duffel Bag
- Category
- Fashion and Travel Accessories Design
- Discipline
- Fashion Design
- Industry
- Fashion and Luxury
- Colors
- Dark Slate Gray, Black, Light Slate Gray, Lavender and Dark Gray
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Xiamen Idea Star Import & Export Co., Ltd
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Zhibiao Chen
- Country
- China
- Recognition
- Bronze A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #174789
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- This duffel bag achieves protection and portability. It utilizes eco friendly rpet fabric, giving discarded plastic bottles a new life and promoting a circular economy. Its eva one piece molding technology enhances pressure resistance and structural dimensionality. The interior features a layered design for improved storage flexibility, while the low saturation haze blue colorway ensures versatile styling across diverse scenarios, seamlessly blending functionality with modern aesthetics.
- Inspiration
- Inspired by modern architecture and sculpture art, this product creates a 3D geometric shape through EVA one piece molding technology, resembling a sculpture to give a striking visual impact and break the flat, rigid form of traditional bags. It blends square and round elements to convey the aesthetic idea of strength in softness. As for color selection, muted hazy blue reduces utilitarian associations. This bag, practical and stylish, is suitable for both business and leisure settings.
- Research
- With the rise in short business trips, users increasingly demand lightweight and protective travel gear. However, traditional duffel bags present clear limitations. Soft ones are prone to collapse and offer poor protection, while hard ones are bulky, structurally rigid, and inflexible in storage. In response, this product innovatively adopts EVA one piece molding technology for a structured form and superior protective performance, with green RPET fabric promoting sustainable development.
- Challenge
- The challenge was striking a balance between light weight and protective performance. The main body of the bag adopts RPET fabric made from recycled plastic bottles, lightweight and wear resistant. The front panel and both sides employ EVA one piece molding technology to create a geometric shape like a sculpture, robust and pressure resistant. The reinforced base improves impact resistance with dense cushioning foam, greatly enhancing protective performance without compromising on light weight.
- Realization and Technology
- The front panel and both sides use EVA one piece molding technology for enhanced pressure resistance and a stronger 3D effect. The outer green RPET fabric made from recycled plastic bottles is water resistant and wear resistant. The dense padded handle offers a comfortable grip. The base with three layers of thickened fabric improves cushioning performance for prolonged service life. Through innovative material selection and structural design, this bag well balances light weight and durability.
- Operation and Interaction
- Besides common secure webbing, the back panel also features a zippered pocket for quick access to frequently used items like passports, documents, and tickets. Scientifically divided, the inside includes a padded laptop sleeve, a wet zone, and a shoe compartment to meet diverse storage needs during business trips. Additionally, premium SBS zippers are adopted to eliminate operational noise, ensuring a smooth and silent opening and closing process.
- Project Duration and Location
- This product was developed in Xiamen in July 2021, and launched in China in August 2021.
- Specifications
- product dimensions, 570 mm x 280 mm x 290 mm
- Keywords
- Modular Storage, EVA One Piece Molding, RPET Material, Sustainable Design, Sculptural Aesthetics, Multiscenario Adaptability, Humanized Design, Multidimensional Protection
