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As the sneaker market normalises off a pandemic peak, some menswear customers have shifted their attention to handbags as the new accessory to invest in for 2023.
“It used to be that sneakers were purses for men, and then men really embraced bags as part of an increased interest in looking good and engaging with fashion,” says Jian DeLeon, men’s fashion director at Nordstrom. “It’s evolved along with the customer; on one end there’s a new set of men into designer and luxury brands, with bags being an integral part of the offering from labels like Tom Ford and Bottega Veneta. On the other end is a more hip, fashion-fluent customer who gravitates towards of-the-moment bags from brands like Prada, Amiri, Off-White, Virgil Abloh’s Louis Vuitton collections and Telfar.”
Sneaker resale platform StockX’s handbag category is growing, with sales evenly split between men and women customers, and fashion retailers are experiencing raised demand for handbags beyond the traditional briefcase or crossbody. Browns now sells as many Lemaire croissant bags to men as it does to women, and demand is surging for the Jacquemus Chiquito among menswear consumers, says buying manager Thom Scherdel, as they look for design-led accessories beyond the functional.
Many of the same factors that influenced sneaker culture and made limited-edition sneakers so sought after have also helped fuel demand for men’s bags and accessories, says StockX director of accessories Rachel Makar. Some of the top-traded accessories brands on StockX include Supreme, Telfar, Louis Vuitton, Off-White and Gucci. “The rise of the scarcity model and the proliferation of collaborations have certainly played a role in the category’s growth. There’s also more product in the market — even with a careful watch over supply and demand, the size of collections from brands like Louis Vuitton has grown tremendously over the last few years.”
Mr Porter is also seeing boosted demand across a wide range of men’s bag styles, with messengers and travel bags remaining the most popular, but more adventurous styles gaining traction. “The more fluid approach to masculinity, which has been apparent across ready-to-wear for a number of seasons, has changed how men look at accessories, even jewellery and watches too,” says Daniel Todd, Mr Porter’s buying director. “We’ve seen growing demand for totes with the model evolving from flimsy bags to shiny, handsome and hard-wearing styles in high performance fabrics or leather.”
There used to be a stigma on men carrying anything else than a briefcase or backpack, says Dubai-based fashion creator and critic Osama Chabbi. “Men’s handbags have slowly started to become more popular, it started with briefcases losing their handles and turning into clutch bags. Then slowly they started moving into cross bodies, and then it started becoming normal to carry a weekender. Now it’s so destigmatised, it almost makes you more sophisticated to have stuff to carry in your bag,” he says.
The Telfar tote bag, first launched in 2015, was a watershed moment in men’s handbags, with men across the US and Europe sporting the mini, medium or maxi size tote in a plethora of colours. If we’re looking for a patient zero, it’s the Telfar ‘Bushwick Birkin’. “That was a statement piece; it fit your laptop without you having to carry a backpack like a bozo if you’re just meeting friends for drinks,” says Lawrence Schlossman, one-half of popular American menswear podcast duo Throwing Fits.
Opportunity is out there for brands to capture. Men’s bags grew 7 per cent in the 12 months ending January 2023, according to consumer behaviour advisory firm Circana (formerly NPD). The fastest growing categories versus both last year and pre-pandemic were crossbody bags and totes, says Beth Goldstein, Circana’s footwear and accessories analyst. Sling and crossbody styles continue to gain popularity to hold necessities and allow hands to be free, with designer bags representing 15 per cent of men’s bag sales, up 5 per cent since 2020. However, there’s still room to innovate in the space, experts agree, as choices remain limited and largely utilitarian.
Beyond the crossbody
The rise in men’s bags is in some ways a hangover from the crossbody bag trend which peaked in around 2018 in line with the streetwear boom, says Scherdel of Browns, referencing crossbody styles from the likes of Gucci and Supreme. “That’s when men’s bags were really put on the map as a category that could drive revenue,” he says, “I think it really changed the psyche in terms of how men’s customers were shopping because all of a sudden, very practical men’s consumers who were buying weekend bags, wash bags or backpacks to go to work were then all of a sudden buying fashion statement pieces. Men became more comfortable with just wearing a bag as an accessory rather than as a necessity.”
The crossbody still resonates with Nordstrom’s consumers today. “We’re seeing the street fashion aesthetic really being driven by the continued relevance of the crossbody bag at a price point of around $1,000,” says DeLeon. “Offerings from Burberry, Louboutin, Off-White and Versace are resonating with customers and there’s an interest in styles such as camera bags that offer more room for items like chargers and other daily essentials.”
However, on the other end of the spectrum, luxury bag purchases seem to be influenced by increased travel and a return to office. Bottega Veneta’s intrecciato totes and cassette bags continue to resonate with men’s customers, DeLeon says, as well as Tom Ford’s suede weekenders and printed croc portfolios, alluding to the “stealth wealth” trend “everyone seems to be talking about”. Thom Browne’s reporter and business bags as well as briefcases from Ferragamo also reflect a customer stepping up his bag game as he goes back to work.
The Loewe puzzle is also popular, says critic Chabbi, which chimes with Mr Porter’s data. “Driven by expansion of their range, we continue to see strong growth from Loewe in the bags category and expect this to continue in line with the overall positive brand performance,” Mr Porter’s Todd says.
Despite the evolution of menswear beyond gender norms, there’s still much less variation in a man’s wardrobe to play with, so bags provide a new way to accessorise, says journalist and blogger Dino Bonačić founder of blog ‘Handbags at Dawn’. “Beyond the big brands, young menswear designers also need to be credited with creating new styles of men’s bags beyond the traditional shapes,” Bonačić says, including London designer Stefan Cooke’s reworked vintage bags with sculptural metal straps.
Still room to innovate
Men tend to purchase bags for the longer run, so they’re not necessarily buying a new bag every season, but more based on their needs, DeLeon says. “In men’s the bag business tends to be more purpose-driven, so he might be looking to upgrade his carry-on now that he’s travelling more or realises that he needs something more luxe and professional-looking as he goes back to the office.” There’s still opportunity for new bag styles and brands to win market share because of a shortage of options, says Bonačić.
In addition to the luxury handbag styles, a new trend is emerging in modular or more utilitarian luxury bags, too. French men’s bag brand Côte&Ciel launched 15 years ago but following acquisition by Coty Inc CEO Bernd Beetz in 2020, the brand has had a revamp, with designer Emilie Arnault creating contemporary tote bags, backpacks, crossbody and more, in nylon and leather. The brand also collaborates with Yohji Yamamoto’s Y’s label each season and has previously worked with Henrik Vibskov and Comme des Garçons. Côte&Ciel pieces retail from €85 for a pochette bag to over €1,095 for a leather backpack.
Seeing a desire for modular bags, Côte&Ciel has implemented clips and elements where customers can fasten its smaller bags onto bigger bags. “Micro accessories are something we’ve seen grow quite a lot, as an upsell on an existing piece,” says artistic director Graeme Gaughan. Some men are simply wearing lanyards from Aimé Leon Dore to carry essentials round their necks, which Throwing Fits’s Schlossman points out he’s seen around New York of late.
These innovations could be smart, as more innovation is needed to harness the growth opportunity of the men's luxury bag market, says Scherdel.
“We’re still quite narrow in terms of what we see as a men’s bag,” he says. “I think it’s still a crossbody tote backpack or an oversized clutch or maybe a document holder.” Where we’ll see development is bags that aren’t necessarily a necessity, but bags that show direction of travel and a mood, he adds. “You can experiment a lot with bags when it comes to materials. I’d definitely like to see a bit more experimenting going on in terms of what the shapes are. We do see the same variations of shapes in all the showrooms. If that could come from a real headline super brand, that would be really great too — to invigorate the space a little.”
Comments, questions or feedback? Email us at [email protected].
Update: The story was updated to include comment from StockX director of accessories Rachel Makar
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