This article was first published in Who What Wear on June. 20, 2024

Perhaps it's just my extremely curated algorithms, but everywhere I look are handbags that look just like vanity cases—top handle, zip-around closure, spacious design, and all. Then again, algorithms can't explain why I've been seeing the same exact handbag shape in real life on a near-daily basis, not just in New York City where I live but everywhere I've traveled this year too (including Monaco, Nice, Saint Barts, and Palm Beach). I can't escape it—not that I'd want to if I could.

This specific bag shape first caught my eye on Gigi Hadid, who's been carrying some version of Loro Piana's Extra style on and off for years. I see a lot of celebrity street style photos because of my job, but something about Hadid and her Extra stuck with me, so much so that when I saw the same bag on Sofia Richie Grainge's Instagram during her honeymoon last year, my editor senses started to tingle—a surefire clue that a major trend is on the horizon. Slowly but surely, their exact mini bag started to take over my FYP and Instagram feed, with influencers in Monte Carlo searching for the sold-out style and others in Manhattan attempting to explain to their followers why such a simple shape could warrant so much internet attention.

Shop the vanity case bag trend: