The other day I was on the Tube and I saw a woman carrying her Mini iPod in a sock.

Nothing unusual about that you might think, except this wasn't one of those specially-knitted Apple socks that come in lots of nice, bright colours. Oh no, this was some off-white sports sock that looked like it had just been picked off the top of the laundry basket.

My point, of course, is that what you carry something in is as important as what you're carrying, a mantra the people at Vaja seem to know very well.

Vaja are in the business of producing bespoke leather cases made to your personal specifications by 'master artisans'. And they've got cases for everything: MP3 players, laptops, phones, digital cameras, the works.

Each case comes in over 30 different colour variations, so if 'Rosa Pink' is just not ostentatious enough for your iPod's leather jacket, try 'Pink Carnation' (ouch).

They may not be cheap, but if the alternative is a sports sock or a scratched laptop maybe you should go ahead and treat yourself.