Hi, I can provide a bit more background on this. The 20 Republic 'messenger bag' promo sets mere made for a competition that London Records ran in association with Radio 1 here in the UK in the run-up to the album's release. For 4 consecutive days (Monday to Thursday at 4pm I think it was) each member of the band came in for a short interview and to play a few of their favourite tracks (I think there was a track off the album each day too). They also asked a question based on the band's history - you had to have the answers for all 4 questions and then send them in to Radio 1 on a postcard, and they drew the winners out of the postbag the following week. I think I remember Bernard's question was where New Order played their first gig (The Beach Club) and I think Steve's was what breed of dog featured in the Blue Monday 88 video (Weimaraner). You have to remember this was pre-Wikipedia and sites like this (the internet was only in it's infancy), so you had to be a pretty keen fan to know this stuff.
Each band member also donated a personal item to become the 4 main prizes (I remember Hooky's was a pair of his leather trousers and Bernard's was a pair of his RayBan sunglasses). The winners of these also got a messenger bag set, and there were a further 16 runners-up prizes of just the messenger bag sets (hence 20 sets being made). As much as I wanted a pair of Hooky's sweaty leather kecks, I only won a runner's up prize of the messenger bag, which I still have. Here are some pictures of the contents:

You will notice I have 2 signed photographs - they were signed in metallic ink and on my original one Hooky's signature had been wiped off before it had dried, so I wrote to London and they sent me another. The t-shirt is really nice and the logo is embroidered into it (as it is on the front of the bag), but it's too rare to be worn, sadly (I also asked London of there were any more going spare, but they had only had enough made for the sets).
I hope this info is of some use.