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Some people just can’t get enough of bags. These bag designs encourage us to expand our idea of what a bag should be like beyond restraints. Versatile, flexible and wacky – these designs will definitely be a gem in any bag collection.

Uncovering beauty from the mundane, NYC based designer Nik Bentel has crafted a limited edition bag out of a single orange electric cord measuring 25 feet long. He wrapped and glued the cord to form a bucket-like shape, all the while preserving the cord for its intended use without any cuts.

Aptly named Electric Cord Bag, the piece features handles, which plug together in the middle. In this design, the designer claims, a bag is an electric cord, and a cord is a bag. The bag can be worn as a unique and distinctive accessory to hold the user’s items, or can even be plugged into a wall.

Bentel admits that the bag has taken inspiration from the artworks of Fluxus — the avant-garde art movement that emerged in the late 1950s — specifically ‘One of Three Chairs’ by Joseph Kosuth.’

Chinese designer – 1Pt has prototyped a woven bag that can change its design and pattern depending on your mood. This “color-changing tubing bag” is made from 1/4′ OD, 1/8′ ID silicone tubing that was woven, heated, and then cooled to retain the shape. More like a container for an actual bag, the design can be worn like a tote bag to hold larger objects.

The most distinctive feature of the bag is that the user can change coloured patterns thanks to coloured water pumped inside the tubing to create different patterns, like dots and dashes. One can even use different colors to create more complicated designs using a microcontroller to manually alternate pumping liquid and pumping air.

The Shirrley bag by Yuree S. Hwang can also change its appearance according to the user’s needs. The idea of this versatile bag came to the designer from a simple question ‘Why most of grocery bags are folded and hided inside other bags?’

This design is made out of a piece of mesh fabric and a single strand of string, but its simple adjustable form allows for flexibility to accommodate different types of contents.

When it is fully collapsed the bag looks like a stylish shirred handbag. User could stretch out and adjust the height of it and could use as a shoulder bag with more inner capacity. When fully stretched, it eventually becomes a full size grocery bag.

Just like with other designs featured in this post, simple beauty in everyday life is what Shirrley stands for.