image: Off-White, Celine
You just might be wearing a fanny pack – and/or biker shorts – before you know it if a number of high fashion brands have anything to do with it. Sure, designers have tried over the past few seasons to bring back the fanny pack (remember the ones that Chanel showed as part of its January 2014 couture collection or the dare I say … enticing ones that Hermès showed not too long ago?) to no avail.
Despite their best efforts and reinvention of this tried-and-true accessory, consumers simply have not taken the bait en masse. But on the heels of the Spring/Summer 2018 womenswear shows, publications are asking: Could this time around be different?
After Valentino, Lemaire and Carven showing the 90’s staple for S/S 2016, brands followed suit even more recently, as well. During the S/S 2017 menswear fashion month, brands in Milan, such as Salvatore Ferragamo, Canali, and Versace, as well as Andrea Crews in London, among others, put forth upscale versions of this ’90s staple that, in some cases, looked different enough from the original (or was styled differently enough, such as the worn over-the-shoulder look of Crews’ or Y-3’s versions) that they may do a better job of persuading male shoppers that it’s a forward-looking accessory.
A number of women’s labels, such as Stella McCartney, NewbarK, and Alexander Wang (for Balenciaga) – have been right on trend for a few seasons. For Spring/Summer 2017, Off-White, Chalayan, and Vionnet showed luxe fanny packs. Even Rihanna showed a fanny pack in one of her recent collections for Puma.
Also vying for consumers’ nostalgia? 90’s-era bike shorts, which showed up on Spring/Summer 2018 runways of Off-White, Dion Lee, Nina Ricci, and Maryam Nassir Zadeh.
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