The backpack. It had its moment, and it was a MAJOR moment, back in the mid to late-2010s. What began as a seemingly fleeting trend quickly catapulted into ubiquity and soon the backpack was not just a trend, but a must-have wardrobe staple.
However, it did not remain a wardrobe staple, and back in 2021, I found myself asking if the backpack was over. The once super-hot trend seemed to have gone cold, likely thanks to a few factors. The first is the trend cycle, which naturally means a trend will go through its peaks and pits.
Add to the mix that the world was going through unprecedented times, with people spending well over a year confined to their homes, completely negating the need to carry around a bag that was big (and functional) enough to hold everything you would need for the entire day.
The backpack essentially became obsolete. Retailers were noticeably stocking less and less of them, and it was rare to see them out in the wild. The backpack, it seemed, had reached its demise.
Back to Basics
One thing you can be sure of in fashion is that trends don’t stay dead forever, and it seems that this one is quickly making a return just three years after we laid it to rest. Major players in the luxury bag world are reviving the backpack this season.
The good news?
While at the trend’s end, many of the silhouettes we were seeing were less than functional and incredibly small in size, completely missing the entire point of wearing a sack on your back, many of this season’s bag’s will actually do the job.
Louis Vuitton continues to focus on its offerings, reviving the original (and iconic) Montsouris Backpack and adding new offerings like a cool Epi leather option to its line-up. Meanwhile, Chanel added a backpack version of its relaxed Chanel 22 bag to the lineup while also debuting a handful of other options.
Is the backpack truly back? All signs point to yes!
I’m pretty sure it never went away. 🙄
I agree with you completely!
Is the vachetta on the Montsouris treated? I feel like it might be a design oversight making the straps untreated vachetta, that’s where people tend to sweat into when wearing a backpack around daily, won’t it discolour quickly and look awful?
The natural leather is supposed to tan overtime—it oxidizes and becomes darker. It’s never supposed to stay light.
No I understand that, but water stains/sweat stains would discolour/stain the vachetta in a splotchy and uneven way…
That Chanel backpack is droolworthy