At Ro, Indie Designer Mary Ping Creates Good Looking Bags in Good Conscience

By Laird Borrelli-Persson

Gusset bag by Ro

Must we understand fashion to be synonymous with speed? Mary Ping thinks not. In 2002 she founded the “conceptual design studio” Slow and Steady Wins the Race in New York, and made a splash early on with her send-ups of It bags in canvas, though her practice is extensive and includes product design as well as fashion. Twenty years on, Ping expounded, “We’re calling [SSWTR] a living archive because we’re building on these different ideas that exist about the things that we own, [examining] how they came to be and why we wear them. The collections always try to answer those questions.” Continuing to find ways to make quality objects accessible to many, somewhat in the tradition of the Bauhaus, is what’s motivating Ping to continue to conduct such research into the “bones” of design.

Mini Vitre bag by Ro

Vitre bag by Ro

Now Ping is getting the chance to explore that mission on a larger scale as the consulting creative director for Ro bags. Ro bags was founded in 1999 by architect Gene Miao and designer Yvonne Roe, who set up shop on East 10th Street, a location that reflected the downtown ethos of the brand. Despite fashion’s ongoing fascination with all things 1990s, Ping’s mission is not just to revive—or archive—Ro, but to create something new within a framework of an existing brand name.

Gusset bag by Ro

One of Ping’s first steps in creating a new identity for Ro, was to look up the word in the dictionary, where she found not only a definition, but a mission. “It’s used to define a language that doesn’t exist and doesn’t have a category,” she explains. “I thought that was interesting from a design point of view since [the company’s] expertise is in handbags that it would be great to eventually have…a sort of library of various types of bags, rather than just figuring out a design mission that’s based on trends.”

Ray bag by Ro

Step one settled, step two was to carry over some of Slow and Steady Wins the Race’s values relating to sustainability and pricing, to reach a larger audience. Ping decided to work with upcycled factory remnants—“If you’re going to buy a new bag, why not buy one that has better practices?” she muses—and has been inspired by the challenge of “designing into those limitations.” This is most immediately evident in a color-blocked bucket bag named Ray after the artist Ray Eames, which has a vase-like profile. (The idea is to reference female creative talents in each style.) Always interested in construction, inside and out, Ping has created a series of bags that highlight the gusset (a fold usually used on the side or bottom of bags to strengthen them and add room) front and center. Here, Ping has found her groove by marrying design with purpose. She defines it as: “The design mission at Ro is carefully considering everything.”

Aino bag by Ro

Gusset bag by Ro

Eileen bag by Ro