mother's little helper
I first created the hipi after feeling the need to keep my hands free when becoming a mother.
- Su-Lin Chee
hipi‘s designer, Chee Su-Lin, first conceived of this hip and waist bag after becoming a mother for the second time. “When we first expected our baby,” recounts Chee, “one of the must-haves seemed to be a nappy bag, a bag for ‘all things baby’, such as diapers, milk bottle and the such, something like an expanded handbag.
Admittedly, there are some really nice products on the market but how are you supposed to find your keys or phone on the go, when they are buried somewhere within a shoulder bag or backpack?”
Add to that the reality that babies and toddlers want to be carried most of the time, and you will appreciate the ease and simplicity of the hipi.
Where are those keys again?
Picture this: You are attempting a herculean expedition of going to the park, getting some groceries or going anywhere with the baby or toddler.
You’ve packed all you need — diapers, water bottle, snacks, toys — into the cavernous nappy bag, that delightful tote in friendly colours that seems to have taken over that relic of bygone days, your cute handbag.
After slinging the nappy bag on your shoulder and picking up the kid, pushing a stroller and holding the door open with your foot, you make it to the car only to start looking for the keys which may be in your pocket, or are they in the bag? You put down the bag and baby, and realise you need two hands to excavate around the bag, in which time your toddler has run off!
With the hipi, your keys are right at hand, and can be accessed with just the fingers of one hand. And once you’re done with them, they always go back into the same place, tethered to the hipi‘s built-in D-rings.
Ring, ring!
By the time you find the keys, pack everyone in, and are ready to start the car, you realise you left the phone in the house!
Or you are in the car and your phone starts ringing, while your kid also tries to “connect” with you. In fact, the phone decides that it won’t stop ringing until you’ve finally found it!
With the hipi, the phone is always at the same place you left it and once you’re done with it, it always goes back to the same place, anchored to the hipi‘s built-in D-rings
Don't lock yourself out!
Speaking of keys, how many of you stay in a home which has a door that locks automatically? You’ve popped out to bring out the trash, hang the laundry, get the mail or do some gardening, and find that you’ve been locked out?
hipi designer Chee Su-Lin recounts how she was once locked out from her toddler at home: “We were in our rented apartment in London and we usually hung the front door key by the door but for some reason I forgot to take it one time. I was then locked out of the apartment and my 2 year-old was still in the apartment. I could not forget her cries of panic as she didn’t understand why she was separated from someone who was otherwise with her all the time.”
With the hipi (right). Your keys are compactly cached away no matter how many times you go in and out of the house. They can be tethered with a retractable reel to the D-ring in your hipi so they are always where you need them to be, all day, everyday.
Worry-free shopping
You finally make it to the supermarket and dump your handbag onto the shopping cart while you zone out into consumerism. Just then, your kid decides to exit aisle left, or run to the toilets. Do you run after her or him and leave your valuables in the shopping cart? Or grab your entire nappy bag while you chase after your offspring?
With the hipi, you don’t have to worry anymore about leaving your valuables in the shopping cart, or hanging on the buggy as you go running Junior. Your most important things are always with you, and you can easily leave things like your nappies and baby bottle unattended.
Besides helping mothers keep their hands free, the hipi also helps those who are concerned about losing their phone and valuables. Thiss can easily happen because more and more of us are bringing our phone everywhere with us. Not only do we get calls, we use it to read the news on the bog, google search anything that takes our fancy, keep our grocery shopping list, sign into online banking, and yes, the occasional selfie. The problem is that when we bring our phone everywhere, we also end up leaving it everywhere.
Not only does the hipi protect you from losing your phone, it also protects your phone from being dropped when you leave it on your lap, cracked when you place it in your back pocket, or from being snatched or pickpocketed when you are travelling.
The hipi is also great for those who are already fanny pack/bum bag converts but who are concerned about the microwaves emitting from their phone next to their body all the time. The hipi protects your body from these waves with its special silver-bamboo radiation shield. Read more about it here.
And if you are a fan of festivals and clubbing, you might already be a hip or waist pack convert. After all, there’s nothing like a shoulder bag to damp your rhythm! All you need after all is your phone, keys and cards, safe on you all the time so you can relax and partay!
Of course, fanny packs or bum bags are useful to keep your hands free and your phone and essentials close, for all sorts of active activities. The hipi can take you from walking the dog and riding the bike to shopping, taking the kids to school and back home.
Even everyday work warriors will find that moving within the limited range of the office benefits from always having your phone and valuables at hand — be it from chatting at a colleague’s desk to popping to the restroom and grabbing a quick lunch at the cafeteria. Even those heading out to a nearby restaurant would fancy traveling light, rather than bringing along the entire handbag or laptop bag. Indeed, how many times have you seen a woman juggling between a handbag for her essentials, a laptop work bag as well as even a shopping tote for extras? The hipi is designed to carry your essentials, while the rest of your things stay in a backpack to keep your hands free.
Not everyone quite has the courage to strap on an 80s-style or bulbous fanny pack or bum bag, however. When not plastered over with neon colours or logos, hip and waist packs tend towards the sports and outdoors aesthetics.
The hipi, however, is sleek and discreet. No external logos. And its single black colour keeps things simple to match with all outfits. Also its wide band imbues a slimming effect. Modest ladies may also appreciate how it may hide any potential camel toes and other parts of your nether-regions.