The bag company Herschel Supply Co. has launched two kinds of new fabric this year. The first, called Apexknit, can be woven into a particular shape, reducing waste and seams in the bag itself, and Sealtech can repair itself from small punctures.

The Apexknit range of bags – which includes everything from backpacks to tablet covers – was inspired by jacquard textiles commonly used in the footwear industry. Jacquard is a knit that can be woven into a particular shape. Because of this, there is less waste when produced, as the fabric does not need to be cut into the right shape. The material is a high-density, lightweight knit, with patterns and gradients woven into the material, instead of dyed on. Additionally, the bags have fewer seams than most backpacks, which usually have around fifty. The Apexknit backpacks have only four, bringing down the weight with about 40% because less thread and fabric is used.

The second fabric consists of lightweight nylon that is water-resistant, rip-stop ánd it can heal itself. Rubbing over the puncture with your finger activates this feature and the hole disappears, because reinforced threading on the nylon tightens up around the area. The self-healing only works for small punctures, like when the tip of a pen pushes through, and not with bigger tears. But if you do happen to stab your bag with a knife, at least you’ll be certain that it does not tear any further, thanks to the rip-stop function of the fabric. For now, the fabric only comes in black, but new colours might be introduced in 2017.