Transported to London - The Moquette Bag

All Aboard - London Transport Museum Introduce a Range of Products Using the Distinctive Moquette

You know the practical covering they use on the buses and underground trains? The material is called moquette and is designed to be extremely hard-wearing because of the pounding it is going to take from Londoners' bottoms. It is redolent of a London of gents in bowler hats sitting patiently on the tube behind their newspapers on their way to the city. I can hear the whirr of the tube train now as it moves on from Sloane Square.

London Transport Museum has taken the fabric and created a holdall bag (above) using the old moquette designs for the Green Line and the old RT buses. Leather trims can be in black or brown. Much like a carpet bag from Victorian times, which also used to double as rugs for sleeping on journeys.

The Green Line moquette shown on the bag was first introduced in the 1950s and used to furnish the commuter coaches for the Home Counties throughout in the 50s and 60s. The pattern has dark green and blue stripes, with pink stripes cutting across. The moquette is woven in the UK by one of the original moquette suppliers. Mostly woven from wool but with a dash of polyester to give it added strength.