How Uniqlo’s £15 crossbody bag conquered the world
We’ve had the Fendi baguette and Bottega Veneta’s pouch – but this season’s it-bag comes from the high street rather than a designer store.To get more news about
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Retailing for £14.90, a banana shaped bag dubbed “the round mini” has become Uniqlo’s bestselling bag of all time, selling out seven times in the last 18 months according to the company.
Made of nylon, it is available in 10 colours and can be worn on the shoulder or crossbody style. Measuring 28cm x 17cm, it is deceptively small – a crucial part of its appeal.
Originally released in April 2022, the bag first went viral when TikTok user @caitlinphilimore posted a 43-second video of herself unpacking her belongings from it. They included: a tin of lip balm, a packet of biscuits, a wallet, keys, phone charger, hair clip, over-ear headphones, a camera, a bottle of perfume and her EpiPen. It’s been watched over 700,000 times.
Just one year later and the hashtag #uniqlobag has more than 80m views, with hundreds of thousands of people uploading similar videos. “Two T-shirts, a bottle of water, a power bank, a disposable camera, sunglasses and a pair of trousers for a festival,” quips one user. “A 400ml bottle of body moisturiser, shaving foam, mouthguard cleaner, gloves, wallet, purse, hand sanitiser, tissues, hair clip, a brownie, a spork, hand cream, lip balm, AirPods, hair ties and keys,” says another, holding each item up the camera.
Online it has been dubbed “the Mary Poppins carryall”, due to its seemingly magical ability to never run out of room.
For many seasons, bags seem to have been restricted to two sizes: extra large tote bags that should come with a shoulder injury warning, or teeny-tiny mini bags that you can barely fit a lipstick in. The Uniqlo bag rebels against both of these norms.
While Succession’s Tom might be horrified by the idea of a “ludicrously capacious” bag (see Fashion Statements passim), for those without a driver on call a bag that can hold a “monstrous” amount of stuff is a fashion boon. Another practical bonus is it leaves your hands free, so you can walk and text.
The Uniqlo bag riffs on Prada’s 90s nylon bags which were reissued in 2020. Dubbed the Re-edition Re-Nylon, the new collection coincided with both the resurgence of Y2K style and lockdown where everyone became heightened about what their hands were touching and needed a bag big enough for a bottle of sanitiser. The fashion search engine Lyst declared the mini bag from the collection the bestselling bag of 2022 – the same year Uniqlo launched its take.