With the resulting ripple effect of the pandemic, it’s safe to say that it’s hard to find an aspect of our lives that hasn’t been affected, from abject tragedy to worldwide commercial upheaval. For us in the bag manufacturing sector, many things have changed, and of course bag trends have shifted hugely. We make millions of bags a year and with that volume and variations of bags moving out of our production facilities it’s easy to spot the notable changes, plus our trend analysis team are keeping watch on the global fashion industry and tracking the latest movements. Here’s a very brief overview on it (if you’d like a more in-depth version, refer to the end of this post).
Staying healthy, and comfortable
When lockdown was imposed, we all went indoors, and we were all cocooning at home. With that, general fashion moved to greater comfort – loungewear became everyday wear. Bags followed on, and styles tended to a softer feel and design – thicker and more padded (even quilted) straps and materials. Quite fascinating.
Smaller
When we started going out again, one of the trends that emerged was the ‘one mile wear’ style (this existed before COVID-19 hit, predominantly in Japan) with people wearing comfortable attire, suitable for short trips to the shops – only when necessary, only with what is necessary. Consequently, we now make more smaller bags (phone bags and crossbodies).
Morphing and blurring
With shopping becoming more a primary task, we’ve seen more demand of totes and shoppers. Because few people prefer to go to the shops with one bag, and in fact preferring to have one bag that does it all, totes and shopper designs are blurring into convertible backpacks and duffels.
One bag fits all
Multipurpose bags are hardly a new trend, however there’s a distinct upsurge of this theme and some cutting-edge designs that comes with a trend that goes mainstream. It seems people want to move from home to office to gym to an evening out with some degree of style and fashion cred.
New travel
As we move between these worlds, commuting, and consequently travel becomes a focus. But instead of public transport and air travel, we see more cycling specific or at least cycling-friendly designs now plus a move towards outdoor and adventure bags – getting away from it all. And of course, this has filtered into mainstream fashion.
Materials and engineering
Trans seasonal, multi-purpose, modular – call them buzzwords but they best describe what people now ask of a bag. Above all, they want it to last, both seasonally and longevity-wise. This is one of the cornerstones of sustainability. Quality is key to avoiding bags ending up in landfills.
Nylon is now regarded as high-end fashion. It’s weatherproof and durable. And in the right colours it’ll be good for a few years.
Our team prepares a full complement of in-depth trend reports each quarter, covering colours, styles, materials and even the macro influences that affect them. Please fill in the form on our site to get in touch if you’d like to know more (and get some pictures). If you’d like to know how we at Ason Bags collaborate with companies in manufacturing bags, send us a direct message (at the bottom of the website).