Why 2023 is the era of the wacky bag, from Gucci Gremlins and Thom Browne’s dog-shaped Hector to JW Anderson’s Pigeon clutch, carried by Sarah Jessica Parker in And Just Like That …

Apr 14 , 2023

From Gucci bears (pictured) and Gremlins to Thom Browne’s dog-shaped Hector and JW Anderson’s Pigeon clutch, quirky bags are definitely on trend. Photo: Gucci

JW Anderson also has frog pouches, Tory Burch has toad bags, Anya Hindmarch crisp packets, Judith Leiber wine bottles, Jeremy Scott baby bottles and alarm clocks, and Schiaparelli has bags with faces

There are novelties from Puppets and Puppets and Collina Strada, Alaïa’s Le Coeur shoulder bag and Simone Rocha’s pearl minaudières – but the logo-less ‘anti-It bag’ is trending too

The first glimpse of Carrie Bradshaw carrying JW Anderson’s unnervingly realistic cult Pigeon clutch bag in photos from the set of And Just Like That … confirmed that we are indeed in the era of the wacky bag.

Thom Browne’s charming Hector bag pictured after a show during Paris Fashion Week. Photo: Shutterstock

To be fair, you might also have gleaned that from the cookie-adorned top handle bags from New York label Puppets and Puppets spied on many an editor’s shoulder (this season, designer Carly Mark added bananas), Thom Browne’s charming Hector bag (inspired by his own beloved pooch), the frog pouches at the most recent JW Anderson show, and the fact that New York label Collina Strada sent literal broccoli bunches on chain straps down the runway.

Gucci Gizmo carryalls are a nod to the 1984 film Gremlins. Photo: Gucci

There have been fuzzy gremlins at Gucci, toads at Tory Burch and crisp packets at the always quirky Anya Hindmarch. The surrealist designer Elsa Schiaparelli herself would surely have given her blessing to the maison’s current creative director Daniel Roseberry for his smart boxy top-handle bags with golden body part protrusions. After all, Schiaparelli loved her “little jokes”, and it seems this season, so do we all.

Judith Leiber Champagne Bottle Forever, available at Net-a-Porter. Photo: Handout

It’s not the first time novelty bags have had a moment. Judith Leiber with her sparkling and delightfully silly clutches, and Jeremy Scott’s campy bags that have included everything from baby bottles to alarm clocks, are incredibly fun proof of this.

Le Coeur shoulder bag from Alaïa. Photo: Alaïa

It’s not all OTT gags either. If you prefer a more low-key novelty bag you could opt for one of Simone Rocha’s pearl minaudières or Alaïa’s Le Coeur bag, the sweet heart-shaped bag spied all over Instagram.

However, the screwball bag comes at an interesting moment in fashion. The recent season mostly focused on “wearable” clothing with pared-back separates, tailoring, elegance and roomy, practical bags. It’s a shift that has been attributed to the looming recession, the sense that after the “Roaring 20s” and “dopamine dressing” of a post-lockdown world, we’re getting back down to business and a desire for practical clothes to cherish forever. As a counter to the novelty bag, the “anti-It bag” – logo-free and well-made in quality leather from the likes of The Row, Toteme, Savette and Neous – has also been resonating.