There are two types of editors at fashion month. Those who are chauffeured from show to show, their essentials stored in a blacked-out BMW, leaving their hands free to pose for street style photographers. Then there are those who carry what British ’s contributing sustainability editor Emily Chan affectionately termed the “bag of crap” back in February: a hefty tote containing all the odds and sods they need in order to file copy and publish trend reports (and attend a few parties!) while on the move. “The bag takes on the psychic spirit of its owner, becoming more run-through, more enmeshed as fashion week wears on. I might as well be carrying a bin bag,” senior fashion news editor Daniel Rodgers said at the time.
Every six months, fashion news director Alice Newbold attempts to edit down the contents of her own exploding bag, extracting the English Breakfast tea bags, or some of the dozen or so lip balms. “Next season, I’ll choose between which shoes/jacket/cardi/socks to wear, rather than stuffing them all in. I’ll be reborn!” she declares.
Judging by the spring/summer 2027 street-style snaps, a new bag has emerged – neat and compact, yet fairly roomy – that could be the answer to Alice’s prayers. Phoebe Philo’s many acolytes have now fallen for her Gig bag, a sleek triple-compartment shoulder bag, with trailing knotted-leather detailing, available in rich cognac, black leather and denim-blue suede, and with a starting price of £2,100. The frowers making the splurge? Climax Books’s Isabella Burley, editor Jo Ellison, brand consultant Sara McAlpine, stylist Victoria Sekrier, and the two models with perhaps the most enviable wardrobes in the biz: Adwoa Aboah and Paloma Elsesser.
Isabella Burley wearing her Gig bag outside the Mulberry by Christopher Kane show at London Fashion Week.
A model leaves the Ferragamo show in Milan toting her trusty trio bag.
Philo stans will deduce that the roots of the Gig can be traced back to 2011, when the British designer – then three years into her fabled tenure at Céline – launched the Trio bag. The tri-compartment cross body style spawned numerous knock-offs and is still a staple for the Parisian brand today, years after her departure from the house. Boiling things down, the appeal of the Trio, and now the Gig, is rooted in practicality. This is neither a fun but impractical micro bag like the Jacquemus Chiquito, nor a throw-your-whole-life-in-it Chanel Tote or Miu Miu Aventure. This neat and sleek handbag is for a pulled-together woman – a woman who wants to separate her tampons from her Tic-Tacs and would never be caught at fashion week with her phone battery at 5%.
In the interests of maximising cost-per-wear (a daily consideration for a editor), the aforementioned Sara McAlpine bought her small Gig bag in neutral “Cookie” leather, “because it goes with everything”, she says. “It sits just right, almost folding into the body, without any gratuitous bells and whistles – which do I enjoy in a bag, but is not something I strive to live with day to day. There’s something satisfying about the skinny strap and the way your hand just slips into its compartments,” she adds, of feeling around for her Fitzcarraldo Editions book, or “whatever trash” she’s reading on her Kindle, in between the Mulberry by Christopher Kane and McQueen shows at London Fashion Week. Not forgetting her Fara Homidi Minky lip pencil, and Eucerin’s unsexy but unrivalled Acute Lip Balm.
.jpg)
Jo Ellison wearing her Gig bag out and about at Milan Fashion Week.
…and ditto Paloma Elsesser.
Back when McAlpine was a student at CSM, she splashed out on a Céline Trio bag. “It wasn’t ludicrously priced when it first launched, which made it feel like a not-impossible purchase,” she smiles. “It had the halo effect of Philo’s Céline, a somewhat reasonable entry-point into that world, and technically felt like two bags in one, because the compartments un-popped, meaning you could also carry one as a pouch. You could get away with stuffing a lot in there, so it was a bag that carried me through gigs, holidays and running around London. I still use it for that reason… it’s seen better days, but the leather wears hella well.”
For McAlpine, the Gig offers that same functionality. “I know a lip-liner is always going to be in the middle compartment or my keys at the back. There’s no need to rummage. At the same time, it’s distinctive enough in its design to feel like a desirable fashion object.” Her one point of packing advice? “You have to stuff her just right… with relatively slim things.” Luckily for Alice Newbold, teabags fit that bill.
Small Gig leather shoulder bag
Small Gig suede shoulder bag
