When there is love and passion you can see it. It is clearly seen in Martina Mancuso's project to create "Agua Backpacks", backpacks that are not just travelling companions, but themselves the fulcrum of stories told and to be told. The backpacks of this brand, conceived and handcrafted, are the result of years of chatting with mum - who taught her how to create rather than buying - in front of a sewing machine. They are years of thoughts taking shape on the streets of Barcelona, when the founder of Agua hummed the song of the same name by Jarabe de Palo, thinking about how she could make something that would be of value not only to her, but also to others, the end customers, dreamers and travellers. The soul of Agua is encapsulated in the word itself, a powerful and fluid archetypal element: vital energy also dear to Martina. Hence the logo, a small upside-down triangle that stands for "water".

Fabrics come to life and are transformed into something special and unique, into backpacks that adapt to the skin and history we want to wear. They are of a rare beauty, a combination of art and discipline, but above all knowledge and tradition. In fact, the story of Agua comes from the hands of Martina's mother, from the days spent together sewing and learning to use the sewing machine, from travelling and adventures around the world. There is no shortage of knowledge learned everywhere and poured lovingly into backpacks. One among many is certainly the sharing of local weaving expertise learnt in an Indonesian village, in Sumba. But it doesn't end there. In fact, Martina picks up the pieces used to make the backpacks during her travels and it is thus that fabrics from the Shanghai and Yunnan markets, motifs from Morocco, skins from Hanoi in Vietnam, French hemp and oriental ikat are found in each creation.

Rare beauty and the combination of art and discipline are not the only characteristics that characterise the brand. Among these we certainly find the uniqueness of each piece that is never told twice, there will never be one piece that is the same as another. Then we have sustainability due precisely to the use of recycled materials for their creation. Then there is the craftsmanship, as each backpack is handmade and last but not least, the incredible practicality of Agua's backpacks, which are spacious, practical, adaptable, multi-pocketed. Do we want more?

One cannot fail to mention the workshop where everything comes to life: the historic Cà Longa building in Milan. "At the end of the courtyard", as Martina writes on her official website, is her little world where everything is imagined and then skilfully created. The workshop also offers workshops for those curious to learn, and can be visited to discuss with Martina Mancuso the backpack we want to become our companion on adventures.