Ayla Sacculus Gestatorius by Liam Huff is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 Praemium A' Design Award Ferreum in Accessorium Competition Category.

FerrumAccessorium· 2025

Ayla Sacculus Gestatorius

by Liam Huff

Client: Rochester Institute of Technology

Praemium A' Design Award Ferreum Winner in Accessorium Category

27,413

Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #167955

Visit Site View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Ayla Sacculus Gestatorius

Ayla est sacculus gestatorius coriaceus modularis, ad plures vitae cyclos producti perdurandos excogitatus. Sacculus ex tabellis coriaceis mutabilibus construitur, quae cardinibus aeneis separabilibus sine ulla sutura inter se coniunguntur. Quaeque tabella inter cardinem exteriorem et laminam interiorem collocatur, deinde acubus et clavis firmatur. Tabella laesa sine toto sacculo abiciendo mutari potest. Formae praedefinitae permittunt ut tabella servata in manubrium minus redigatur. Plena dissolutio reparationem et usum iterum ad finem vitae sustinet.

The Recognition

About the Praemium A' Design Award Ferreum

Ayla Sacculus Gestatorius victor est Praemii A' Design Award Ferreum, honoris amplissimi formis bonis dati, quae postulatis professionalibus et industrialibus ab creationibus bene formatis exspectatis satisfaciunt. Victores Ferrei magnam peritiam, altam specializationem, intellectum periti et facultatem creandi auctorum suorum ostendunt. Exspectatur Ayla Sacculus Gestatorius creationem multum aestimatam, admiratam et carissimam, practicam et novam fore. Haec forma Ferreo victa optimas industriae consuetudines integrat et proprietates technicas idoneas, cum scientia et talento coniunctas, habet. Ayla Sacculus Gestatorius ob diligentiam suam honoratur et ad vitae qualitatem emendandam formatum est, ut mundum meliorem reddere iuvet.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Modular and transformable leather panels along with detachable hinges allow Ayla to last multiple product life cycles. The detachable hinge facilitates ease of repair when the product gets damaged. Simply undo the hinge and replace the damaged leather panel, eliminating the need to throw away the entire product. The ability to fully disassemble the product allows for an environmentally friendly end-of-life with the ability to either repair or transform old leather panels into new products.
Dimensions & Packaging: 460 mm x 100 mm x 330 mm
Tags: Bag, Leather, Sustainable, Hardware, Interchangeable, Replaceable, Tote, Modular Panels, Transformable
Production Technology: Experimenting with multiple 3D printed components, I focused on exploring ways to attach leather panels without the use of stitching. I landed on a pin system. Leather panels are sandwiched between an outer hinge and an inner plate. The panels are secured atop the pins and then anchored with a series of screws. With these hinges, everything from the handle, to the main body, to the interior can be replaced. Final hinges were made of polished brass to ensure longevity with extended ware.
Design Challenge: The hardest part of this project was finding the perfect intersection of functionality/sustainability and desired look. I determined through my research that my target audience wanted a product that had sustainable attributes but looked no different from a traditional bag. I could achieve the desired function but not in an aesthetic that was appealing to my audience. Through many rounds of prototypes and interviews, I came to a final mechanism that satisfied both ends.
Research: I started with database research to determine opportunities to reduce waste. I interviewed 4 professionals in the fashion accessories industry. I used these two methods to inform my hinge mechanism. For product look and feel, I used a survey to determine bag silhouette, mood boards to determine detail and target audience, triading to determine desired look, narrative scenarios to determine how the bag would be used, and user interviews to ultimately hone in on a final design direction.
Inspiration: Leather is one of the most polluting sectors within fashion. Most leather products contribute to the idea of take-make-waste. Reducing environmental impact is not as simple as switching to a leather alternative. Almost all alternatives are polymer based and cannot match traditional leather's longevity. If farmed regeneratively, used as meat industry byproduct, and, if able to be used multiple times, leather can be sustainable. Ayla explores how we can use leather to its maximum potential.
Project Duration: Started in August of 2023 at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York, USA. and finished in May of 2024 in Rochester, New York, USA.
Operation Flow: The detachable nature of the metal hinge allows for components within the product to be interchanged when damage occurs. If one side of the product gets damaged, simply replace that panel, not the entire item; this reduces wastage. Additionally, the main leather panels were designed to be turned into a different, smaller product if only one panel can be salvaged. Predetermined patterns ensure that one panel can be turned into a smaller clutch, further reducing the waste of the item.
Image Credits: Image #1 : Photographer Elizabeth Lemark, AYLA_1_3600.jpg, 2024.
Image #2 : Photographer Chelsea Cohen, AYLA_MAIN_1800.jpg, 2024.
Image #3 : Photographer Chelsea Cohen, AYLA_2.jpg, 2024.
Image #4 : Photographer Elizabeth Lemark, AYLA_3.jpg, 2024.
Image #5 : Photographer, Sneha Yalgi, AYLA_5.jpg, 2024