Which ION Size Should You Buy? All Six, Honestly Compared

Last updated 6 August 2026

The short answer: choose the Micro for evenings, the East West or the Medium for daily life — they hold almost exactly the same amount, in different shapes — and the Large for travel and market days. The two fringe versions carry precisely what their base silhouettes carry. The fringe changes the mood, not the capacity.

There is one ION. It exists in six sizes, and every one of them is the same bag: the same handwoven raffia, the same circular handle, the same hands in Antananarivo. What changes is how much of your day it is willing to hold.

Most size guides give you three numbers and leave you to guess. This one gives you the numbers and then tells you what they mean.

The six, at a glance

ION Micro — 24 × 19 × 9 cm — about 4.1 litres — dinner, a wedding, a night that starts late
ION Micro Fringe — 24 × 19 × 9 cm — the same, but you want it to move
ION East West — 32 × 21 × 12 cm — about 8.1 litres — the long middle of the day
ION East West Fringe — 32 × 21 × 12 cm — a day with nowhere particular to be
ION Medium — 26 × 27 × 12 cm — about 8.4 litres — every ordinary day, and most of the good ones
ION Large — 50 × 40 × 17 cm — about 34 litres — travel, markets, the beach, the weekend

All measurements are width × height × depth. Every ION is handwoven individually, so they are approximate by nature — slight variation is the signature of the hands that made it.

The handle, the weight, the closure

Every ION is carried by its circular handle. There is no shoulder strap on any size, and that is a decision rather than an omission — the circle is the form the whole bag is built around, and hanging it off a shoulder would undo the line.

The Micro sizes weigh around half a kilo. The Medium and the Large are around a kilo. For the volume they carry, all of them are lighter than they look. Raffia is a leaf fibre, taken off the leaf in a single flat ribbon and dried — thin, strong, and carrying almost no weight of its own.

The ION Large is the only size that closes, with a leather drawstring. The others are open.

ION Micro

The evening. 24 × 19 × 9 cm.

The smallest ION, and the most deliberate. Wide enough to be useful, short enough to stay an evening bag. It takes a phone, keys, a wallet, sunglasses and a lipstick without strain — the edit is real, but it isn't punishing.

What it holds: phone, keys, a full wallet, sunglasses, a lipstick.

What it won't: a book, a water bottle, anything tall. At 19 cm high, height is the constraint, not width.

It sits well against a bare shoulder and it does not fight a dress. If you're buying your first ION and you want the one you'll wear to everything, this isn't it — buy the Medium. Buy the Micro when you already know how you want to arrive somewhere.

ION Micro Fringe

The dance. 24 × 19 × 9 cm.

The same compact frame, finished with hand-cut raffia fringe along the base. The fringe is cut by hand, strand by strand, which is why no two fall quite the same way. It catches air when you walk and light when you don't.

What it holds: exactly what the Micro holds. The fringe hangs below the body of the bag; it takes up no room inside it.

Choose it over the Micro when: you want the bag to be part of the movement rather than a full stop at the end of it. The Micro is composed. The Micro Fringe is having a better time.

ION East West and ION Medium — the honest comparison

This is the decision most people actually face, and the numbers are more interesting than they look.

The East West is 32 × 21 × 12 cm. The Medium is 26 × 27 × 12 cm. Same depth, and within a few percent of each other in total volume — roughly eight litres each. They hold about the same amount. What differs is the shape of that space, and shape decides what actually fits.

The East West is wide and low. You reach into it rather than digging down through it, so nothing disappears to the bottom. It sits under the arm the way a good clutch would. But at 21 cm high, tall things don't work — a water bottle will not stand up in it.

The Medium is upright. Six more centimetres of height, six fewer of width. That height is what lets it take a water bottle standing, a hardback, a rolled linen shirt.

So: East West if your day is flat — a paperback, sunglasses, a wallet, a swimsuit rolled small, and you want to find all of it without looking. Medium if your day has height in it — the bottle, the book, the layer you'll want at eight o'clock.

If you're going to own one ION, own the Medium. It's the one that doesn't need to be swapped: morning errands, a long lunch, the lights coming on, without negotiation. It's the bag most people should start with, and the one most keep reaching for after they've bought a second.

ION East West Fringe

The drift. 32 × 21 × 12 cm.

The East West with hand-cut fringe running the length of the base — movement traced along the longest line in the collection. The proportions are identical to the East West. It walks like a wave.

Choose it over the East West when: you're not in a hurry to be anywhere in particular, and you'd like the bag to say so.

ION Large

The journey. 50 × 40 × 17 cm.

A travel bag, a weekend bag, a market bag. At roughly four times the volume of the Medium, this is a different category of object rather than a bigger version of the same one. The weave is at its most architectural here, because at this scale it has to be — the structure is doing real work. It is also the only ION that closes, with a leather drawstring.

What it holds: a laptop with room to spare, a change of clothes, a towel and a swimsuit, a picnic, everything you bought at the market and didn't plan to.

What it won't: disappear. This is a bag that announces the day is a big one.

It's the only ION that turns a weekend into a small voyage, and the only one you can genuinely pack once and not repack.

Does the fringe change anything practical?

No. The fringe is cut by hand and attached along the base, below the interior of the bag. Capacity and proportion are identical to the version it's based on. It changes how the bag moves and how it reads. It does not change what fits.

One thing worth knowing: hand-cut raffia fringe softens with wear. It will not stay as crisp as the day it arrived, and it isn't meant to. It settles.