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Coach’s Brooklyn bag is beloved by everyone: Bella Hadid, the internet and me. Growing up, I remember thinking I would commit crimes for certain “It” bags. I wanted some of them so badly I would burn cities for them. Bloomingdale’s didn’t exactly stock the kind of bag I needed as a middle school or high school student, but I found myself there often, browsing at the designer counters to prove to myself that the beautiful leather goods I saw in magazines weren’t just a figment of my imagination.
Sure, “It” bags can sometimes be impossible to get your hands on and priced in a way that makes you question your morality, but they don’t have to be. What’s more important about the bag right now is actually the vibe. If it’s oversized, built to get better with age, and decorated with the kind of straps made to dangle keychains, stuffed charms, and ribbons, then it’s what everyone wants. Which would explain the immense popularity of Coach’s Brooklyn Bag.
The bag—which costs $295 for the smaller size and just under $500 for the large—has been all over social media for months. And while its reasonable price tag did help it sell out initially, it’s now in stock in most colors, and still as popular as ever. It actually just came in at number 2 of Lyst Index’s s hottest products for Q3 2024, beating out Miu Miu’s popular Arcadie bag in suede.
Bella Hadid has worn the Brooklyn bag a handful of times, but the supermodel’s endorsement isn’t necessarily what has made it so beloved—after all, she endorses lots of things. It’s more the energy she emanated while wearing it that made people say things like, “I’ll die without this bag” (a real Instagram comment repeated many times across all of Coach’s social media channels). She looked carefree, flipping her hair every which way with the nonchalance of someone who doesn’t need multiple bags to get from point A to B.
Coach’s Brooklyn Bag is also built for personal style, which is arguably the biggest fashion trend post-Covid. On the runway, Stuart Vevers accessorized them with clunky, New-York–themed keychains. On TikTok, fans of the bag almost never wear it plain; instead, they add a cluster of beaded chains, tethered fabric, and kawaii stuffed animal charms that reflect their own interests. It’s a bag built for living that also can represent your life. The most viral of the Brooklyn bag videos lasts a full 15 minutes—extremely long for a platform which often favors shorter clips. It features a creator stating that she’s planning on wearing it for thirty consecutive days straight to truly break it in and give it the “Olsen treatment,” a reference to Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, who made wine-stained Balenciaga city bags covetable.
I think that’s my favorite thing about the Brooklyn Bag. In its largest, Hadid-approved iteration, it could have actually fit all of the binders and textbooks I was lugging around in high school. It’s built for living with, a bit like the ones Mrs. Prada sent down the Miu Miu runway last year. Need to stuff your bag with an extra outfit or bring your laptop on a dinner date right after work? These bags let you do that without shame.
If anything, what I’ve learned from carrying around my Brooklyn Bag 39—in a shade of Brat green, no less—is that nobody asks me why I have such a big bag with me. Instead, what they say is, “Where can I get one like it?” No “It” bag has ever made me feel more like an It girl before.
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