Men's Business Backpacks

Most business backpacks are either nylon that looks borrowed from a student or leather that peels by spring. So we designed the other kind: structured full-grain leather, handcrafted in Florence and Northern Italy, with no logo and your initials if you want them.

Both Von Baer backpacks here are built to the same standard: Cuoio Superiore full-grain leather, an Italian cotton canvas lining and the same Florentine and Northern Italian workshops. What separates them is your week. The Liberty is the slim one you wear hands-free on the commute; the 10X expands and converts for the trips where one bag has to carry everything. Choose by how far you go, not by which is better made, because on that they're equal. Both sit in our wider men's leather backpack range.

Von Baer Business Backpacks. Leather Is Best for Professionals.

We designed both Von Baer Business Backpacks around the same two worries: that a backpack can't look senior enough for the room, and that the leather will give out before the year is up. Four things settle both.

• Leather that ages into a patina instead of cracking at the corners. We use Cuoio Superiore certified full-grain Italian leather, tanned slowly over 48 to 72 hours with natural plant tannins, where most hides get an eight-hour chrome bath. Full-grain means the whole top layer of the hide stays intact, so it wears in as one piece; lower grades are split into thinner layers and coated, which is why they peel at the stitched edges while ours darkens and softens the more you carry it. The scuffs it picks up become character, not damage. Our guide to what full-grain leather is explains the grades.
• A structured shape that keeps its form, so it looks at home in a boardroom. The Liberty is cut from full-grain panels rigid enough to hold their shape, so it stands upright on its own when you set it down beside you in a meeting.
• A natural cotton canvas lining that stays soft for years. We chose robust Italian cotton canvas to line both bags, where most makers use polyester no matter what the bag costs. It stays soft against whatever you slide in, from a laptop to a leather folio, and it only wears in with use.
• No logo to pay for, and your own initials pressed in free if you want them. Neither bag carries a logo plate or a printed wordmark, only a discreet mark pressed into the leather that you'll notice and no one else will. If you want it to be visibly yours, we hand-emboss up to four initials on the included leather luggage tag, free, the kind of personalization you would usually pay extra for.

Von Baer Backpacks. Designed for Business People and Executives.

So the backpack you should choose depends on how you use it during your week: the same commute most days, or in and out of airports with a night's kit.

• If your day is a train, a walk and a 14-inch laptop, the Liberty is the slim one. At 12 cm (4.7 in) deep it sits close to your back and keeps a low profile, and the structured panels keep it upright when you set it down. Inside, there's a padded sleeve sized to a 14-inch laptop, two zipped pockets on the front for the things you reach for first, plus three pen slots so you're not fishing for a working pen in a meeting. At 1.4 kg (3 lb) it stays light on the walk from the platform, and it's sized for airline carry-on for the days the commute turns into a flight.
• If a single overnight has you tired of choosing between a roller and a laptop bag, the 10X is the one that does both. It expands from roughly 21 to 28 liters, so a change of clothes goes in beside the work, and you carry it three ways: as a backpack through the terminal, a messenger into the meeting or a grab bag by its top and side handles. The padded sleeve takes a 16-inch MacBook Pro, four detachable organizers keep the chargers and cables from turning into a knot, and it's carry-on sized, so it stays in the cabin with you. It loads from the front, so you open it flat and reach straight for what you packed. If travel is the main use, our business-travel backpacks gather the options built for it.
• If a backpack still isn't quite the answer and you'd rather carry a case in your hand, our men's leather business bags cover the briefcases and satchels in the same certified leather, including our dedicated leather briefcases. And if one bag won't stretch to the whole trip, the leather luggage range picks up where the 10X stops, with weekenders, a garment bag that keeps a suit crease-free and the one wheeled carry-on in the range.
• If you'd rather compare the two side by side before you commit, we walk through how to choose one in our guide to business backpacks.

One honest thing about full-grain leather: it's not waterproof. It shrugs off a light shower and dries fine, but it's a natural hide, not a raincoat, so you wouldn't want to soak it. That's the trade for a material that ages into something better looking every year.

Whichever you choose, it's backed by a 5-year warranty and priced honestly the first time. And because the initials on the luggage tag go on free, either bag makes an easy gift for someone who's earned the upgrade.

Von Baer Backpack Stats

• Leather: Cuoio Superiore certified full-grain Italian leather, vegetable-tanned
• Lining: Robust Italian cotton canvas
• Made in: Florence and Northern Italy
• Hardware: Signature hardware, finished in a warm tone
• Laptop fit: 14-inch (Liberty) to 16-inch (10X)
• Carry: Airline carry-on size
• Warranty: 5-year limited warranty
• Personalization: Complimentary hand-embossed initials on the included leather luggage tag