You may have noticed that, through some potential accident or mistake, we seem to be experiencing a golden age of man bags where it is permissible, in fact desirable, for a man to wear what was once deemed an object of infamy!
And yet it’s undeniable that the man bag is back with a vengeance, and we are glad.
Since 2017 the bumbag (or fanny pack if you prefer) has accounted for a 25% increase in accessories sales among men! Popularised by skate culture and the likes of the Supreme bum bag, and made fashion (and more high street) by the likes of Virgil Abloh for Louis Vuitton and Prada, man bags (particularly cross-body bags), have been possibly one of the most high impact and, in all likelihood, lasting developments in male accessories in the last few years.
And praise be! Much like the lack of pockets in women’s jeans, the lack of bags for men has been an impractical nuisance. Furthermore it has deprived men of one of the things that makes fashion (and life) so much more bearable – accessories.
The rise in the men’s bags (let’s not call it a ‘man bag’ anymore please) is part of a wider shift towards a hybrid of functional and fashionable styles, which has led to the likes of the Survivalist and Warcore trends. Both are distinguished by crossbody designs, combat pants, hoodies, and multilayered trench coats, as well as Gore-tex and its lighter alternatives in terms of textiles.
It’s perhaps because of this stress on functionality as well as the references to active wear, workwear, and military wear that the men’s bags have been finally given the fashion rehabilitation one might have hoped for, making them distinctly masculine accessories with a hint of hardiness and durability (no matter how untrue this might be). The bags in fact fall in line with a distinct move towards OTT accessorising such as the utility boot and massive sneaker trend, oversized belt buckles, combat pants, and utility waistcoats with giant pockets.
We for one are glad, as the versatility in designers leading top fashion houses (like in the case of Abloh in LV) has been breathing new life into men’s fashion in general, making it both more accessible and braver.
The rehabilitation of bags for men is just a tiny portion of that re-envisioning that Abloh and designers like Jacquemus are carrying out, but an important one! As they say, the accessory maketh the man – or something to that effect.
