cut 'n shut

The collection drew inspiration from the extraordinary story of the Ghost Army, a secret US Army unit established during the Second World War that used creativity and illusion as tactical weapons. Artists, designers, architects and sound engineers were recruited to create elaborate deceptions;  using inflatable tanks, fake radio transmissions, sound effects and visual camouflage to convince enemy forces that troops and equipment were somewhere they were not. Among those who served in the unit were artists including Ellsworth Kelly, who would later become one of the defining figures of post-war American abstraction.

For RÆBURN's partnership with Eastpak, the answer was to apply the CUT 'N SHUT methodology to one of the most established objects in contemporary bag design. At the centre of the collaboration was Eastpak's iconic Padded Pak’r, alongside the Plister and Bust — familiar silhouettes completely reconsidered through material, deconstruction and the RÆMADE process.

Original British military garments were carefully taken apart, combining three distinct camouflage patterns across the bags, while fluorescent material reclaimed from British Border Force jackets introduced an unexpected layer of colour and function.

The Padded Pak’r became the clearest expression of the idea: patchworked camouflage transformed its surface, double front pockets extended its utility, and a fluorescent water-resistant rain cover was integrated into the base, hidden until needed. Each style was RÆMADE in Europe and limited to just 100 pieces, allowing the inherent variation and character of the original materials to make every bag unique.

The strength of the collaboration came from what each brand brought to the process. Eastpak provided an iconic product architecture and decades of expertise in durable, functional bags; RÆBURN brought a radically different approach to materials, reconstruction and responsible design. Rather than simply placing two identities alongside one another, those strengths combined to change the product itself.

An icon remained instantly recognisable, but through material, craft and function it became something entirely new.

When CUT 'N SHUT launched, RÆBURN presented the collection at 18montrose in King's Cross, London — a concept store built as part gallery, part showroom, part shop, and made to host exactly that kind of moment.

Set within Coal Drops Yard, it gave CUT 'N SHUT's ideas of illusion, disruption and reconstruction a stage built for them: a space where product, presentation and performance already sit side by side.