What New Bags Have You Been Most Excited By This Year?

The game of designer musical chairs has been nearly impossible to keep track of in the last few years, but yes, brands keep playing the game. From Daniel Lee’s jump from Bottega to Burberry to Pharrell Williams’ buzzy appointment at Louis Vuitton, Alessandro Michele and Chemena Kamali’s debuts at Valentino and Chloé, respectively, changing creative directors means aesthetics are changing on the regular.

While a brand’s core DNA and House codes remain the same, a new creative director can help breathe life into a brand, offering a new take on the tried and true. While changes typically are felt across the board at a brand, from ready-to-wear to shoes, accessories, and beyond, the most overt changes usually happen within the bag category.

Gotta Have It

It’s exciting to be a bag lover, and each season, new bags delight and entice. In the last decade alone, hundreds of new bag lines have been released by our favorite designers, making it hard to play favorites (and decide what to actually buy!). Many bags have caught my eye lately for different reasons, but very few have made me want to pull the trigger.

There’s a very specific feeling I must feel—you all know it, too! That head-over-heels, gotta-have-it excitement that comes from seeing something you must have? This year, there’s been one bag I keep coming back to Prada’s Belted East/West Shoulder Bag.

When it first debuted in leather earlier this year, I was immediately drawn to the bag thanks to its rectangular East/West shape, relaxed body, belted detail, and overall cool-girl vibe. Then, it was released in brown suede—perfect for the season, and I knew it would be a hit (spoiler alert, I was right).

It’s the one bag I keep returning to, and am actually considering adding to my rotation before year’s end. Which bags have excited you the most this year?

Featured image via @vivianyrl