The Berner Kühl Carry All bag ended a search that took in thirteen near-misses, countless browser tabs and more than a few sheepish moments putting bags back on shop rails. The destination was a $644 tote in Nappa suede, made by the Copenhagen label Berner Kühl, in a colourway called “rock”. Getting there, though, took considerably longer.
Why the Old Bag Had to Go
Six or seven years of daily carry had extracted every useful mile from a heavy-duty black nylon tote. Laptop, notebook, carry-on luggage, gym kit, food shopping: it had done the lot without complaint. Then something shifted. The writer behind this particular hunt pinpoints a broader life change, getting married and moving into a new stage, as the moment the old bag’s appeal evaporated. The bag itself was blameless. The time had simply come.
The brief that emerged from that realisation was loose but pointed: more luxurious, a touch more considered in terms of design, but still functional enough to carry a laptop comfortably through a full working day. The style question resolved quickly. Messenger bags felt too small; sling bags didn’t suit. Backpacks had been ruled out at age fourteen on personal principle, and that ruling held. A tote bag it would be.
The Runners-Up and What They Taught
What followed was a methodical elimination. The DB Journey Entour Shell Tote scored on shape and had a zip closure, but ultimately felt too technical. The Berner Kühl Carry All search was teaching its hunter to think in negatives: not this, not that, closer now. The Adsum Zip Tote impressed on function and hardwearing ripstop, but a bright purple bag couldn’t credibly go everywhere. Filson’s All-Weather Tote, with a history stretching back nearly 130 years, was visited as a nod to expertise, but the logo and strap colour didn’t sit right.
L.L. Bean’s Boat and Tote is an icon and warranted a long pause. Living in London rather than New England made it feel like the wrong cultural fit in the end. Lemaire came close: luxurious, Parisian, beautifully made. But the shape was too narrow, which raised a firm personal rule about laptops never travelling vertically. The Hender Scheme Azuma Bag was directional enough to tick the fashion requirement, but too far out there for daily use. The MAN-TLE R20, coated in paraffin wax and offered in a blue called “Pacific,” was a real contender at a reasonable price, until the short handle length killed it. Buck Mason’s Italian leather tote revived interest late, but fell to the same narrow-shape objection as Lemaire.
The Studio Nicholson Reflection Suede Tote was almost it. The suede colour, the texture, the clean form: all exactly right. The price of $1,295 was not.
The Berner Kühl Carry All Bag Arrives
Knowing precisely what you want, it turns out, makes the final decision straightforward. The Berner Kühl Carry All bag in Nappa suede ticked every point on the list: room for a laptop, soft and unstructured in feel, free of visible logos, and made from a deadstock suede with a texture close to the Studio Nicholson bag that had been just out of financial reach.
Frederik Berner Kühl, who founded the label in 2019 according to Highsnobiety, explained the thinking behind it over email. ‘The idea was to make something very simple and functional, but with enough character that it doesn’t feel like a conventional work bag,’ he said. ‘We wanted it to be generous enough to carry everything you need during the day, while still feeling soft and unstructured. The suede was important for that, as it gives the bag a more tactile quality, and allows it to change and develop with use, rather than always looking pristine. I like that it can carry a laptop and all the practical things you need, but doesn’t immediately read as a laptop or office bag.’
That quality of wearing and softening over time will be familiar to anyone who carries leather or waxed cotton in all weathers: the best kit develops a personality through use rather than looking showroom-fresh forever.
The label has been building momentum since Berner Kühl opened a small white-painted store in 2021, according to Vogue. Earlier this year that momentum was formalised: WWD reported that Berner Kühl won the Wessel & Vett Fashion Prize 2026, a top independent award. For a label less than a decade old, that is a meaningful marker.
The suede version of the Carry All, priced at $644, is currently sold out. The same bag in black Nappa leather remains available at the same price. Frederik Berner Kühl has confirmed the suede colourway will return, as soon as this coming spring.
