Work bags that mean business
I’m sure there are people who casually chuck their stuff into a bag before heading to the office, and then arrive with everything they need and nothing that they don’t (random piece of Lego, fossilised apple core). I’m just not one of them.
At least I’m in good company. In her essay “I Hate My Purse”, the late director/screenwriter Nora Ephron laments her inability to get along with handbags: “Everything you own is in your purse . . . But when you open it up, you can’t find a thing in it: your purse is just a big dark hole full of stuff that you spend hours fishing around for.”
I wouldn’t say I hated my handbags. My understated Mulberry Amberley and Marc Jacobs bowler with gold chains from the 2000s are a fast track to feeling smart. However, these are small shoulder styles, and finding a capacious work bag that fuses style and function is an ongoing project.
This became more apparent when I returned to the office in the autumn, and tried to fit laptop, mask, hand sanitiser, chargers, water and snacks into one vast tote without compartments in which scrabbling for keys or a ringing phone became a Sisyphean struggle. So the new year seems a good time to find a bag that actually means business.
Talking to other women, it’s clear that what we want from our bags is evolving, especially with work patterns in flux. With “hybrid working” and “hot-desking” becoming the new norms, women told me they needed space for papers, spare shoes and bulky stationery such as a stapler. Posture is also a priority for those plumping for smart backpacks.
Naomi Walkland, vice-president of EMEA marketing at dating app Bumble, has needed to change what she carries for work since the pandemic. The elegantly dressed 30-year-old says: “Bumble has moved to a ‘work where you are’ policy, but we have hubs in different locations, so prior to the latest suggestion to work from home, I was going in about every other week.” After extensive research, she bought a Celine Sangle bucket bag, in March 2020 (just before the UK went into its first lockdown) because it can hold her laptop, and has compartments for her Air Pods and water bottle.
When she commutes, Walkland says she will maximise her time by going out in the evening too, for which she brings a second bag with a change of shoes and make-up. She favours Longchamp’s classic Le Pliage bags, which fold up much smaller to make the ideal overflow bag, and are now available in recycled polyester.
Last year, London-based designer Anya Hindmarch brought out a number of new bags “to reflect the fact that either people were doing fewer days in the office so they needed a portable office,” she says, “or they were moving from room to room, wanting to pack up everything into a bag.” She believes that being ultra-organised is comforting when things feel out of control.
Test driving your work bag
The bag your osteopath would approve
Pangaia backpack, £195, thepangaia.com
Back pain from heavy bags is no fun, but stylish backpacks are tricky territory. Leather is heavy and fancy hardware can look try-hard. This Pangaia backpack feels minimal but not meh: it’s comfortable and uses eco-aware materials including nylon with enhanced biodegradability and padding from eucalyptus and organic cotton.
The Rented bag
Gucci Horsebit Tote bag, £79 a month, cocoon.club
I love how light this monogram canvas tote is, and its decent-sized interior zip pocket. The retro styling brings a bit of personality and glamour to a neutral work look.
The quietly luxurious Day Bag
Métier Perriand All Day, £1,980, metier.com
Named after an architect known for merging form and function, the Perriand All Day is ultra roomy with a 16-inch laptop compartment, interior and exterior pockets, and a place to clip in the brand’s hands-free ‘Stowaway’ bag for post-work socialising.
The ultra-organised bag
Anya Hindmarch Multi Pocket Nylon Tote, £450, anyahindmarch.com
A bag to spark joy in anyone who gets a thrill out of meticulous organisation. No more holding up an impatient coffee queue whilst trying to locate a credit card.
The anti-fashion tote
Baggu Duck bag, £34, kinhome.co
No logo, no frills, but well-proportioned design with a cross-body strap that makes it suitable for any situation. My husband and I both use this cheap modern classic frequently.
The Statement laptop bag
Mlouye Business Bag, £409, mlouye.com
A refreshing change from normcore laptop sleeves featuring two zip compartments for computer and papers, and a little pocket in the centre for chargers, etc. The Art Deco design looks professional, but I would need to streamline my stuff not to require an overflow bag.
The vegan bag
Chylak shopper bag in moire, £255, chylak.com
Chylak’s moire fabric is not only elegant and unusual, it’s made from 62 per cent recycled polyester. Lightweight and big enough for a laptop, it has a zip at the top, which — hello Freud- I feel exposed without.
Hindmarch’s Working From Home tote comes in recycled nylon and features multiple pockets on the outside labelled “glasses”, “earphones”, “bits and bobs” and “stationery”. It has consistently sold out. “The labels are almost like a prompt because there is nothing more annoying than forgetting things,” says Hindmarch. Indeed my own recent trips to the office involved writing a list of all the things I needed to take, something I would only have done previously when travelling overnight.
Hindmarch is a devotee of a “Russian doll” system of bags within bags, and her range includes pouches that you can put essentials in, then move between bags. They can inject some infrastructure to an existing style that doesn’t have enough sections; I found the “Safe Deposit” wallet an effective way to move my keys, earphones, phone, etc between school-run and work bags, while her “Home Office” pouch aims to replicate the top drawer of your desk.
At Net-a-Porter, senior market editor Libby Page carries a tote bag (her current favourite is a Loewe “Cushion” bag that she’s had for years) with a pouch inside (Loewe’s “Anagram” pouch). “This means that my laptop can slot perfectly inside whilst still leaving a space where I can organise my wallet, phone, keys and any other essentials,” she says.
Métier is a four-year-old British leather-goods brand favoured by the Duchess of Cambridge and Nicole Kidman for its understated aesthetic and emphasis on practicality. Founder and designer Melissa Morris has seen demand for her high-end bags (totes start at £1,180) rise threefold from 2020 to 2021, because she believes “people were realising that practicality mattered more than ever. It’s a luxury to feel like you have a little assistant next to you, or there’s a pocket that fits your passport and wallet. It’s this luxury of not worrying where things are.”
Morris started the label because she felt that many luxury bags didn’t “reflect how the 21st-century woman is living: on the go from morning to night”. Her pragmatic designs included details such as detachable inner pouches that can be worn as cross-body bags. “I start creating a bag from a need, then I create the functionality, then the design details,” says Morris. “I wear-test the bags pretty extensively, then I send them to a facility in Italy that simulates 20 years of use: rain, wind, 10 kilos of stones, humidity.”
Morris’s buyers also appreciate the discreetness of her designs: “My clients have enough to say on their own and don’t need a giant logo,” she says.
For Hindmarch, “a bag has become this huge status thing, but ultimately it’s about taking things with you when you leave the house. I think functionality is quite sexy.” Amen to that.
A bag can be a big investment — so a handy hack to avoid an expensive mistake (or avoid buying new at all) is to rent one to get an idea of what works for you. Last London Fashion Week, I borrowed two bags from rental service Cocoon. Within minutes of handling Gucci’s elegant 1955 Horsebit leather shoulder bag in black (£99 a month via deluxe membership), I knew that its Lilliputian dimensions wouldn’t work for a clutter magnet like me. Fitting in all my stuff was like trying to move house using a wheelbarrow. Instead I opted for the 1955 Horsebit tote bag (£79 a month via premium membership) which was light and roomy. A useful lesson in fantasy vs reality.
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