‘Would you like a bag?’ is a common question in shops these days as pressure builds against free handouts of plastic. Sarah French meets a designer who has come up with a trendy answer.

THE bag for life may be designed to make us feel more worthy as we load up with shopping, but when it comes to being a stylish accessory it usually falls short of the mark.

Thin cotton for £2.50 or plastic for 10p may seem like a bargain if all you want to do is fill them with cat food and toilet roll, but you really wouldn’t want to take them any further than the boot of the car.

Designer Elizabeth Barber decided that what was needed was a bag that lasts a long time, but wasn’t made of nasty, synthetic materials.

It also had to be stylish.

Add supporting British jobs to the list and you have the demanding requirements that she laid down when she came to turn her idea into a new range of bags and other cotton products.

Elizabeth, who comes from Heighington, near Darlington, launched her business this year after extensive market research to develop the right shape and size for her collection and to source stylish fabrics in a range of colours and designs.

“When the bags for life phenomenon first began, they were so functional that you would only want to use them for the supermarket,” she explains. “More shops have begun to offer cotton bags now, but I’ve been disappointed by the quality and the lack of style. They may only cost a couple of pounds but, even so, you want to feel you’re buying something attractive.”

Elizabeth’s bags are designed to be multi-functional – small enough to keep folded in a handbag, yet stylish enough to use every day.

“I have customers who use them as baby changing bags, for carrying library books, for picnics and family days out, for travelling abroad and just for shopping in town. And they’re inexpensive enough to have several to mix and match with different outfits,” she says.

“The most popular designs in the winter and spring were spotty fabrics in aubergine, shades of brown and raspberry, while the summer has seen greater demand for fresh and bright designs like lime green and black stripes, turquoise and pink spots and deckchair stripes.”

ELIZABETH launched her collection among friends, family and business contacts and has received positive feedback from customers at regional arts and craft fairs.

The popularity of the bags has now led her to expand by retailing Elizabeth Barber through a number of high-quality shops, including Boudoir, in Grange Road, Bliss Gifts, in Duke Street, and Cocoon spa, in Coniscliffe Road, all Darlington.

Lewis and Cooper and Fired Earth, in Northallerton, are also stocking them.

“It’s been hard work starting the business from nothing, honing the design and range of fabrics and working with retailers to increase availability of the collection, while still keeping the bags relatively exclusive,”

says Elizabeth.

“I’ve had some great feedback and I’m really pleased that the bags are proving so popular. If my bags can help to bring people into shops in the current economic climate then that is fantastic.”

It has also been important to her to support British jobs.

“I buy my fabric from British companies and, more importantly, the manufacturing is done locally. It’s great to think that I’m providing people in the North-East with work and, hopefully, I can create jobs in the long-term as the business and collection expand.”

ELIZABETH has already designed a new collection, called Briar, which includes aprons, for adults and children, peg bags, Aga covers and other laundry and kitchen products. Other items in the pipeline include children’s wellie bags.

She is also working towards registration of low carbon use so customers can be assured of the products’ eco credentials, as well as knowing that using bags for life is reducing their own environmental footprint.

■ elizabethbarber.com, giftsatbliss.co.uk