Looking for a technical bag with a minimalist and professional aesthetic? Stuart & Lau might be the right brand for you.
Ready to upgrade from a more casual backpack to a bag worthy of an urban professional? Among the many brands out there with polished and professional carry options, Stuart & Lau stands out.
We’ve been testing both the Redux Gym Bag and Dopp Kit from Stuart & Lau for months now — plenty of time to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the bags themselves, as well as the brand overall.
That’s exactly what we’ll be sharing with you in this Stuart & Lau review, so let’s get right into it.
About Stuart & Lau
The Stuart & Lau brand is born out of the lifestyles of two great metropolitan hubs: New York City and Hong Kong, which the company’s founders call their respective homes.
With high-speed, constantly on-the-go professional lifestyles at the forefront of the founders’ minds, they went about designing a range of versatile urban carry bags to match.
The results have been excellent, with the brand creating some of the highest quality non-leather professional bags that you’ll find today.
With that in mind, let’s talk about the bags we’ve tested in depth.
The Redux Gym Bag
We’ve been using the Redux Gym Bag mainly as, well, a gym bag. So first let’s talk about how it performs in that regard.
It’s a compact bag (just 25 liters) that’s clearly designed with the urban professional in mind, and a lot of its features are geared towards being able to work out before or after going into the office.
That includes some slots that we don’t necessarily have a use for; we wouldn’t really want to bring our laptops to the gym, for example. But if you’re squeezing in a workout around your office work, the Redux has everything you need.
We especially like that this bag has a separate shoe compartment. If you’ve never had a gym bag that separates your shoes from the rest of your gear, you’re really missing out.
Paired with the included laundry bag, the Redux really makes it easy to keep your clothes and gear minimally stinky.
Keep in mind, if you use the shoe compartment, there isn’t a ton of extra room inside. It’s plenty big for most fitness regimens (think yoga or any sort of group exercise class).
But if you have a lot of gear, like a weight belt, lifting shoes, half gallon water bottle, and knee sleeves, you should consider Stuart & Lau’s larger Regimen Gym Bag instead.
Both duffels make for great weekender bags, for quick day trips or overnight adventures too.
Overall, the Redux is a versatile bag that’s aimed towards professional, urban-dwelling office workers — but it performs well outside of that niche, too.
The Dopp Kit
First things first: Compared to other Dopp kits we’ve used, the Stuart & Lau Dopp Kit has a lot going on. Is that a positive or a negative? That depends on how you plan to use it.
The Dopp Kit is made with a unique double-sided layout, which leaves a lot of room for organizing your toiletries and essentials. In our opinion, there may be even a little bit too much going on — but if you’re an organization-loving guy, this little bag really does have a spot for everything.
Overall, we think this bag would be great for people who travel a lot, especially for their jobs. It may be a little over-designed for general-purpose use, but if you’re of the mindset that it’s better to have too much than too little, it will be a great bag for you.
It’s also worth noting that the materials this Stuart & Lau Dopp kit is made out of, from the waterproof DuraLite fabric shell and silicon-coated interior, to the YKK AquaSeal zippers, are incredible.
The bag may look fancy, but it can take a beating. It also handles moisture really well — everything from splashes of water to toothpaste smudges or moisturizer spills.
If you don’t like to baby your travel gear, this Dopp kit may be the right choice for you.
Stuart & Lau Pros
So speaking of the brand as a whole, we can say that their bags are of premium quality. They’re about as nice as you can get for non-leather bags, and they’re definitely a buy-it-for-life quality investment.
Probably the biggest draw to Stuart & Lau’s bags is their understated, sophisticated styling — and how they pair that with lots of storage options inside, even though the bags appear low profile.
If you’re looking for a sleek professional bag that doesn’t lack storage and organization options, Stuart & Lau is the brand for you.
Stuart & Lau Cons
One of the same things that make Stuart & Lau an attractive option for busy business people — the copious internal storage and organization options on all their bags — could be a downside for the more minimally-minded guy.
There’s a lot going on in each of their bags, and if you’re used to single-pocket style bags, they may feel somewhat overdesigned.
Other than that, the only real “con” for Stuart & Lau’s bags is that they don’t come cheap. The quality is there, but you should be prepared to make a substantial investment in their bags.
Frequently Asked Questions
And before we wrap this review up, we’d like to answer a few questions we’ve heard about Stuart & Lau from around the web.
What Is Stuart & Lau?
Stuart & Lau is a company specializing in bags and briefcases for urban professionals.
Where Is Stuart & Lau Made?
Stuart & Lau does not provide details for their manufacturing location on their website.
Overall Impression
So how do these bags measure up in comparison to other brands we’ve used and tested?
Overall, Stuart & Lau’s bags are all super high quality. They’re very durable across the board, easy to clean, and probably the best non-leather bags we’ve tested.
Stuart & Lau is definitely The Modest Man approved, but they’re clearly targeted towards a certain sort of urban professional. If you’re looking for a technical bag with a minimalist aesthetic and lots of organization options, definitely check out everything the brand has to offer.
Questions? Comments? Leave them below!
I urge you to reconsider recommending Stuart and Lau products until their customer service team gets their act together. I purchased a Cary briefcase and the zipper broke. I’ve emailed them 7 or 8 times in the past month and have gotten no reply whatsoever. The mid phone number also does not work and directs you to their email, which they do not answer.
Yours is the first bad experience I’ve heard of, so I can’t really comment on their overall customer service. But of course, I’ll leave your comment here for other people to read. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Michael,
Brock was kind enough to bring this to our attention. We’re glad we were able to connect last week and get things sorted for you. And for the broader audience here, just a quick friendly heads up — please do not attach large files or photos to emails when reaching out to us. For security reasons, those will be blocked until our team marks the sender as safe. We are sorry that can creates an extra step sometimes, but unfortunately its just a necessary precaution in today’s world. Thanks!