Aside from plane tickets to far away places, I have another weakness: handbags.
Like my love for travel, it’s a relationship that started young, when I bought my first bag (a fake-fur, fluorescent blue and pink polkadot number) as a 12 year old away on summer camp.
It became a running joke in my family that without fail, every time I came back from a holiday, I would be accompanied by a new bag, and a new notebook. As far as I’m concerned, every traveller needs a bag, and every writer needs a notebook – and it doesn’t hurt if they look lovely too.
When I discovered a Nikon J4 camera under the tree at Christmas (my first camera with multiple lenses), I knew I was going to need a camera case, if not a whole new bag. My problem was that most of the camera bags I looked at were, well… ugly.
Enter ONA.
The New York-based camera bag company is on a mission to provide high-quality camera bags that protect a photographer’s gear while complementing their personal style. I’d heard a lot about ONA through the travel blogging/social media grapevine, and everyone seemed to be head-over-heels for their products.
Luckily for me, my birthday arrived not too long after my new camera did, and I’m now the proud (read: slightly obsessed) owner of an ONA Bowery bag, their small messenger-style bag named after the Bowery neighbourhood of Manhattan.
It hints at the company’s travel-inspired origins: founder Tracy Foster came up with the idea of ONA while on holiday in South Africa, and names each of the bags after a favourite destination.
The Bowery is made with soft, supple Italian leather that’s easily marked, but in this case that’s a positive, not a negative.
It gives the bag character, a history, almost a personality of its own. I like to think that each new adventure I embark on will leave its mark, physically as well as emotionally: a scuff from an afternoon exploring New York City, a scratch from sailing to St Kilda. No-one will have a Dark Truffle ONA Bowery bag quite like mine.
Yes, the Bowery is a beautiful, cool-yet-casual leather satchel, but it’s also practical. The interior is sturdy and well-padded with closed-cell foam, offering plenty of protection for my camera and its additional lens, not to mention my usual bits and pieces, like my phone, Kindle, and emergency chocolate.
I keep that all-important notebook in one of the two front pockets; my business cards in one of the mini side slots; and although the sleeve at the back is advertised as perfect for an iPad Mini, I use it for my phone (they’re almost the size of an iPad these days!).
All in all, I can’t get enough of my ONA Bowery bag.
As you can see, the Bowery was the perfect companion for wandering through Brooklyn Bridge Park, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it fares on my upcoming adventures. A classy, dark-hued Italian leather handbag that keeps my camera covered? It’s more than an improvement on those fashion-disaster numbers from my pre-teen days!
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NEED TO KNOW
Where can I find the ONA Bowery? ONA camera bags can be bought directly from ONA on their website, where they also have a list of retail partner stores that stock their products.
How much does it cost? At the time of writing, the ONA Bowery costs $249 – but ONA hosts lots of sales throughout the year, so keep an eye out for any bargains!
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What do you think of the ONA Bowery? Do you have a favourite camera (or travel) bag? I’d love to hear what gear you use when you travel!
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Greetings from Belgium. We both seem to love our ONA Bowery bag! You love yours so much that you wrote an article about it. I love it so much that I read online reviews and 10-year old articles about it and gawk at pictures, after buying my second ONA Bowery a couple of weeks ago, this one in Antique Cognac. I already had a waxed canvas one, which I bought in 2017. It’s been my favorite camera bag since then (I also have a Camps Bay backpack and a Astoria Field bag, both by ONA. Can you tell what my favorite brand of camera bags is?). The canvas Bowery is going strong and has developed a lovely patina over the years, and I’ve already managed to put a few scratches in the leather of my Antique Cognac bag. How is yours holding up after all these years, I wonder? Do you treat it with any leather products?
Hi Kate! Thanks so much for your comment. To be honest, this blog post had slipped my mind, seeing as I wrote it 10 years ago, but I’m happy to report that I am still using exactly the same ONA Bowery bag and I still love it! I haven’t treated it with any leather products, but it’s held up really well over the years, and it’s come all over the world with me in the last decade. (I use a slightly larger camera now too – a Sony A6300 – with more lenses, and it still holds up well with the added weight.) I hope you enjoy using your leather Bowery as much as your canvas one!
Thanks Katie! Glad to hear yours is holding up well. They do seem to be built for life. Enjoy!