NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 12: A model poses (fashion detail) for the Staud Presentation during New York Fashion Week: The Shows at Laudree on September 12, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Yuchen Liao/Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows)
Clear bags
Like anything that is created, in fashion, no idea is totally new. There will always be copies, iterations, and inspiration. If you ever want to be taken to school, I highly recommend checking out Diet Prada’s Instagram. They’re known for “calling it out” when designs seem very similar to one another. They also have a knack for exposing unethical and racist behavior. Recently, they were the direct cause of a monumental fashion show cancellation in China, involving Dolce & Gabbana.
So, while nothing is completely new, it can feel like it after a long absence. Enter: clear bags.
This year’s “It” bag may seem a bit futuristic, but it’s merely taken on new forms. I vaguely remember one year, while I was a child, that we were told that we may have to carry clear backpacks. Back then, I imagine it was because one of my classmates was probably stealing other students’ stuff. But apparently, many venues have a rule that you cannot bring in a bag over a certain size – unless it’s transparent.
I can also throw the clear bag back to at least the 1950s. In my 20s, I was a huge vintage shopper, and very much into the mid-century/pinup/rockabilly style. One item that I always lusted after, and never actually acquired, was a clear lucite box purse. Such as this.
Brandon Maxwell sent a couple of clear bags down the runway for 2019, and I had my new fashion mission. Most notable was a tall clear box, with gold handle and monogram clasp, that carried a bottle of namesake rosé. Instant envy. Except for that $2,000 price tag.
Handbags have greatly benefited from social media, with influencers creating buzz around an “It” bag, more than any designer has. Cult Gaia’s bamboo bags have been It for seemingly way too long, so I’m happy for something fresh. Check out social darling, Staud, whose bucket bag gave the bamboo bag a run for its money last year. They could be the clear winner in 2019.