The Monos Metro (left) and Prada Small Re-Nylon backpacks.
Photographer: Takamasa Ota for Bloomberg Businessweek
Backpacks Replace Handbags in New Work Era. Here Are Eight to Buy
A transition to more transient work styles has led to a boom in backpack sales—and fashion brands.
Long before JanSport and L.L.Bean backpacks began filling the hallways of high schools, the original Duluth pack was designed in 1882 to help portage a canoe, with the wearer securing it in place with a thick strap across the forehead. In the ensuing decades, entrepreneurs would attempt to patent versions of the leather and sealskin rucksacks historically used by hunters, trappers and fishermen. Things settled down designwise after World War II (no more headgear, slightly fewer animal skins), with backpacks serving more quotidian roles in schools and offices.
Now, past the peak of the pandemic, many higher-end luxury brands have taken advantage of our increasingly fluid work routines to focus on functional style, says Nora Kleinewillinghoefer, associate partner at Kearney Holdings Ltd., a global strategy and management consulting firm.