For Handbags, Minimalism is Fall’s Chicest Look

If brevity is the soul of wit, minimalism might be the soul of elegance. After season upon season of rococo embellishment, studs, beading, embroidery, print, fur and exotics, fashion feels like it’s ready for something a little simpler and a little less look-at-me. The street style ship as we know it has, to a certain extent, sailed. Because handbags are such a distinctive and enduring part of any outfit, the best way to get in the spirit of this sartorial shift is with one of the many minimalist handbags that are currently ripe for the picking.

A minimalist bag doesn’t have to be boring or super modern; the spare aesthetic can be translated skillfully to everything from a retro doctor’s bag to a contemporary backpack, and the lack of design trickery means that the bags details are all closely considered decisions. In a well-realized minimalist bag, every element enhances both the form and function of the piece, which is exactly what any piece of good design should be.