Phone bags are the hit accessory at New York Fashion Week

It's a hands-free affair
Emma McCarthy11 February 2020

Never mind It-bags or the must have shoe of the season — a cursory glance around the front row of New York Fashion Week would confirm that the hottest accessory around is the smartphone.

Surprising news? Certainly not. The style set’s co-dependency on their devices is well documented, whether it’s summoning their post-show Uber, checking their paperless fashion show invite or furiously snapping each look out on the catwalk from every possible angle — with the occasional selfie thrown in for good measure.

This season, however, the hands of the front row are empty. Not because our reliance on our devices has dissipated, but because we’ve discovered an ingenious new way to stay tethered.

Behold the phone bag. Or to be more specific, a phone case with built-in strap that lets you sling your device over your shoulder — yet always in close grabbing range — while keeping both hands available for hailing cabs/clutching coffee/posing. Truly, gold dust to the New York fashion pack for whom the opportunity to streamline their show circuit baggage is second only to their desire to make a style statement.

One of the pioneers of this new movement is British bag lady and queen of customisation Anya Hindmarch. Her Pimp Your Phone collection spans a selection of leather cases from snake-print to neon which come complete with gold metal clasps to attach a matching shoulder strap or wristlet. Crucially, Hindmarch’s offering also includes a series of leather envelope purses that permanently adhere to the back of the case to accommodate your credit cards, travel passes and hotel key cards. Less functional but no doubt as desirable, the line also includes a range of kitsch clip-on charms from pineapples to cherries.

Another front row regular is XOUXOU — a Berlin-based brand which specialises in what it’s coined Phone Necklaces. Founded by entrepreneurial mum of two Yara Jentzsch Dib, who invented the first prototype as a tool to help juggle life with a newborn and has since sold well over 100,000 models, the label’s signature design includes a long, brightly coloured cord connected to a hard silicone case, as well as a newer version featuring a chunkier woven strap attached by a set of carabiners. “This is my second show season with my XOUXOU — I never go anywhere without it,” explained one front-row ambassador this morning in New York. “It’s my mobile command centre to get the team through fashion week without the distraction of scrabbling around in a handbag.”

She opted for a neutral khaki, black and tan cord colour scheme. “I thought it would go with everything in my wardrobe,” she explains. “I think I must have sold one a day since I got it with people asking me, ‘What’s that? I want one!’”

Of course, outside of the fashion week bubble, the phone bag may not serve to replace the need for a bag altogether. After all, your gym kit/reusable water bottle/loose change/real life still needs somewhere to live. Perhaps you can justify that new season It-bag purchase after all.

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