The New Sign Of A Reader Isn’t Glasses. It’s The Bag They Carry

If you remember the hype behind Jonathan Anderson’s first collection at Dior a couple of seasons ago, you might remember the series of teasers that got everyone talking about a preppy, erudite turn at Dior. The piece de resistance, however, was Anderson’s rendition of the classic Dior Book Tote. Why was everyone talking about it, you ask? That’s because, instead of reimagining Marc Bohan’s original sketch of a monogrammed bag that carries books (and other things), the new creative director turned it into a bag that carried the cover of a classic books like Bram Stoker’s Dracula and James Joyce’s Ulysses into the panel of his new bag. Et voila! The Dior Book Cover Tote.

Erudition and literary expertise has been a mainstay in fashion circle for at least a couple of years now. Global search trends in Google show that searches for words like Literature have increased by as much as 73% over the course of the last five years. Books as a topic have seen an increase of 23% since last summer alone. 

Of course, fashion followed suit. Initially, it was with the return of preppy fashion. Polos and loafers were the first to go viral, finding their way into runways across fashion shows. Glasses followed. Then came the resurgence of ties last year. Reading and being well read was the most attractive hobby a man could have, found Date psychology in an evaluation of 74 different hobbies.

All this made sense, after all. Artificial intelligence is more prevalent in our lives than ever before. Now more than ever, AI fatigue has led to the urge to return to the physical world. Books, of course, were at the heart of the movement.

All of this led to the culmination of the Book Cover Tote last June. It was a divisive bag, if the comments of Dior’s first post on them is anything to go by, but it wasn't long before it was the ultimate literati status symbol. Think, a bag that doubles as Pride and Prejudice merch. Or The Great Gatsby. Or Madame Bovary. You get it.

And it doesn't just stop there. Coach jumped into the bookish bag trend, with their latest introduction: the book charm.

Whatever you're thinking, pause. This is a literal book (think Maya Angelou’s I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings) that, Coach posits, you can read from end to end on your way to work.

The luxury lifestyle brand collaborated with Penguin Random House and other local publishers to select twelve different books, of which they made miniatures to attach to your bag. They're yet to hit the shelves, but they already have the internet talking, and the waitlists are huge. Come on, they're cute, the covers are exquisite, and they're really portable.

Besides, why read alone when you can tell everyone what you are reading without saying a word? And, who knows, based on the books that you carry around, maybe you make a few friends along the way?