Nobuaki Sato 
Lei Joulnal.
What remains unspoken.
What lingers just beyond brightness.
Through the lens of In Praise of Shadows, Lei Journal traces the people, spaces, and practices that take shape not only through what is shown, but through what is held back.
In Conversation
GRAMS28 is a Hong Kong–based design brand known for leather bags and accessories designed around everyday use. Founder and CEO Benjamin Chan remains closely involved in product design and the direction of the brand.
The brand began with a problem he knew personally: the bag he wanted did not exist. We spoke with Chan about various topics related to his learnings, his beliefs and the brand’s path beyond bags.
The Bag He Couldn’t Find
Sato: For someone discovering GRAMS28 for the first time, how would you describe what you are trying to make?
Benjamin: We want beauty, usability, and quality to exist together.
A bag is something you use every day. It can look good, but if it is difficult to use, that does not solve the problem. At the same time, if you only add functions and you do not actually want to carry it, that does not work either.
For us, design not only includes looks, but also how it opens, what you put inside it, and how it feels when you carry it.
Sato: Was that something you were looking for before GRAMS28?
Benjamin: I travelled a lot with my computer, and I wanted a backpack or bag that worked with the way I dressed.
Many of the functional backpacks I tried made me feel like I was still in college. Then I looked at bags I actually wanted to carry, and they were very expensive.
I couldn’t find something that fit what I needed. So I thought, well, just make it myself.
What He Learned at Home
Sato: Where did that instinct to make things yourself come from?
Benjamin: My father had a lot to do with it. There was always a DIY mentality in my family.
If you couldn’t find the right tool for a job, you thought about making the tool yourself. That made me more eager to create things or solve problems.
I grew up with the feeling that there is usually a way to work something out.
Sato: How did that eventually become GRAMS28?
Benjamin: At university, I sold screen protectors on eBay. I wasn’t thinking about building a business. I just wanted to make some money for myself.
After university, I worked in design and advertising, but I still wanted to do something of my own. Later, I made a leather MacBook case and put it up for sale. It sold immediately, and that became the beginning of my first brand.
A few years later, I closed it. I had been trying to build an online business around Hong Kong alone, and I learned that it isn’t only about the product. Where you sell it, and how you reach people, matters too.
When I started GRAMS28, I thought globally from the beginning.
What an Object Can Say
Sato: Did working for a global audience change the way you thought about the product itself?
Benjamin: I became more conscious of quality.
I started looking at many more brands around the world, especially online brands, and sometimes what arrived did not live up to what had been advertised.
I want us to do the opposite.
I don’t want to overstate what we make. I’d rather someone receive the product and feel that it is better than what we promised.
The idea of a soul is also embedded in the name GRAMS28. Chan has previously explained that the name begins with 21 Grams and the idea behind the film’s title that a soul weighs 21 grams. Seven was added for the hope that the objects would accompany their owners through everyday life, seven days a week.
Sato: What makes an object feel as though it has a soul?
Benjamin: I think it comes down to whether the product can communicate by itself.
Can we present it without saying anything, and can people still understand what we are trying to do?
If we can do that, then I think it has a soul.
It is the same with collaborations. We don’t want to simply put another name or IP onto something without really considering why we are making it.
For me, that intention has to be there.
Beyond the Bag
Sato: Where do you think that way of thinking can take GRAMS28 next?
Benjamin: I’d like GRAMS28 to become a broader design house, not only a bag brand.
We are already exploring that through collaborations. Because we have the bag business as a foundation, ideas behind other projects can be more creative or free, not bound by limitations. They don’t all have to begin with the question of whether something will sell.
We can experiment with design, make something unexpected, and tell stories.
Sato: What does being a “storyteller” mean to you?
Benjamin: It isn’t only about telling our own story. I want to make things with people around the world and bring their stories into the product too.
A bag brand can be boring. I want to make it less boring. I want to make it more fun. I want us to craft stories with other people.
A Workspace, a Helmet, a Scent
Sato: Where does scent fit into your day?
Benjamin: I use Lei Room Spray around the area where I work at home. It lasts a long time, and a few sprays make the space feel more alive.
I also use it around my motorcycle helmet sometimes. When I’m riding, I like catching the scent.
Visit Lei
In Tokyo, Lei In Praise of Shadows can be experienced in space — through scent, light, material, and the quiet atmosphere of the store itself. The collection can also be explored online.
Lei In Praise of Shadows Flagship Store
UEHARA TERRACE 1F, 1-30-12 UEHARA, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan