Botor Tote

Botor Tote

A field note in carry systems.

The Botor Tote is not a simple bag.

It is a carry system.

Study 001 begins with a question: how do you carry what matters when movement is not optional? The Botor Tote answers that question through three references: the Ghana Must Go bag, the Asante boto, and the Japanese furoshiki. Each object comes from a different material world, but they respond to the same pressure: movement.

Some objects are designed for stillness. Others are shaped by the need to leave, trade, return, adapt, and survive.

The Botor Tote belongs to the second category.

Not a simple carry object

A bag is usually treated as an accessory. Something secondary. Something that follows the body.

The Botor Tote is built from a different idea. It is not just a container. It is a structure for motion.

Its research begins with three systems:

Ghana Must Go — urgency, volume, migration.
The Asante boto — control, value, economic power.
The Japanese furoshiki — method, adaptability, technique.

Together, they form the foundation of the Botor Tote.

Not a reference.
A translation.

I. Ghana Must Go

The Ghana Must Go bag is one of West Africa’s most recognizable carry objects.

Cheap, durable, expandable, foldable — it is not an object of elegance. It is an object of necessity. Across markets, bus stations, borders, homes, and departures, it has become a quiet witness of movement.

It holds what life compresses into.

Clothing. Food. Documents. Tools. Memory. Emergency. Hope.

The Ghana Must Go bag is not precious, but it is powerful. Its value comes from capacity and readiness. It does not ask for ideal conditions. It works under pressure.

For the Botor Tote, this is the first principle:

Capacity without excess.

A carry object should hold enough without becoming noise. It should be able to move with the person, not slow them down.

II. The Asante boto

The second reference is the Asante boto.

In the Asante Kingdom, the boto was a leather pouch connected to a regulated gold economy. It held gold dust, brass weights, scales, spoons, and other instruments of measure. It was not just storage. It was tied to value, authority, and exchange.

Where Ghana Must Go speaks to urgency, the boto speaks to control.

It carried things that had to be measured, protected, and moved with intention.

This is the second principle behind the Botor Tote:

Structure without rigidity.

The Botor Tote is designed to feel stable without becoming stiff. It should organize without over-complicating. It should hold weight without losing shape. It should feel useful, not fragile.

The historical boto matters because it turns carrying into a serious act. What you carry is not random. What you carry reflects what you value.

III. The Japanese furoshiki

The third reference is the Japanese furoshiki.

A furoshiki is a square of cloth. Its function comes from technique: folding, wrapping, tying, and adapting. The cloth changes depending on the object. It can carry a box, a bottle, clothing, food, or a gift.

The intelligence is not only in the object. It is in the method.

This is the third principle behind the Botor Tote:

Function without noise.

The Botor Tote does not need to announce every feature. It should simply work. It should adapt to daily life, travel, errands, work, and movement without becoming overdesigned.

From the furoshiki, the tote takes the idea that a carry system should be flexible. The form should serve the situation.

IV. Systems of movement

Each reference answers a different pressure.

Ghana Must Go responds to urgency.
The Asante boto responds to control.
The furoshiki responds to adaptability.

The Botor Tote sits between them.

It is built for people who move through different worlds in the same day. Work, travel, market, studio, airport, city, home. It is not designed around one perfect lifestyle. It is designed around motion.

The tote does three things:

It holds what you need.
It moves when you do.
It adapts when things change.

That is the system.

The BOW interpretation

The Botor Tote is a modern carry system built on three principles:

Capacity without excess.
Structure without rigidity.
Function without noise.

Heavyweight canvas gives it durability. Reinforced stitching gives it strength. Side pockets and open interior space give it utility. The form is practical, but the meaning is deeper.

Because of War does not design objects as decoration.

It studies the systems people create under pressure — then translates them into garments, tools, and forms for the present.

The Botor Tote is part of Study 001 because it carries the central language of the collection: movement, memory, adaptation, and survival.

It is not just a bag.

It is a system for people in motion.