'It' Has Arrived

Has the era of the indispensable accessory returned? It’s not that easy as the bar has been raised. Today, to be able to hold one’s attention, a bag must have an air of exclusivity.

- Jessica Michault

The term it-bag became a cornerstone in the vocabulary of fashion in the 1990s. It was the time when minimalism was on the decline, letting flashy pieces become the new symbols of fashion. An exponential trajectory of growth for this trend was observed till 2008. That was when the global economic crisis hit and turned everything around, or at the least put brakes on superfluous expenses.

The rich had to, at a minimum, show that they, too, followed the movement. But, during those ‘dark’ times, a number of exceptionally designed bags saw the light of day. Baguette by Fendi, 2.55 bag’s revisited version by Chanel, Lady Dior, Murakami by Louis Vuitton, Le Dix by Balenciaga, and Paddington by Chloé. They became the must-have accessories, placed alongside the timeless Kelly and Birkin by Hermès and Bambou by Gucci.

These bags resulted in becoming such cash machines for their respective brands that every fashion house tried to come up with their own must-have. Often satisfied by claiming that their creation was an ‘it-bag’ with the hope that just by naming it, it would become one. Another phenomenon that fuelled the trend was the burgeoning number of aspirants for the proverbial social ladder. Somewhere, the concept of the it-bag was diluted. Making them available in different price ranges, the original idea became weaker and was on the verge of losing its relevance.

“The concept has changed. It still exists, but there are so many in the market now that the meaning has changed. When it-bags first appeared, it was about wearing a bag that actually said something about a relatively new concept that helped distinguish it from those available for mass consumption,” Fflur Roberts, head of global luxury goods at Euromonitor International, says. “It was followed by every brand coming out with their it-bags. Ever since, the market for such bags grew tremendously.