The End of the “It” Bag? – THISDAY Style

Not too long ago, fashion made handbag shopping wonderfully simple.

There was always one bag. The bag. The one everyone wanted, everyone posted, and everyone saved up for. It was the first thing you noticed in airport lounges, weddings, restaurants in Victoria Island and every “What’s in My Bag?” video online. If you carried it, people assumed you were fashionable. Six months later, somebody else was carrying exactly the same one.

Today, that fashion formula has completely fallen apart.

Walk into any stylish brunch in Lagos, and you’ll struggle to spot two women carrying the same handbag. One has a vintage Louis Vuitton she found through a reseller on Instagram. Another is wearing a sculptural leather bag by a Nigerian designer you’ve probably never heard of. Someone else has rediscovered Coach after years of ignoring it, while the Gen Z girl at the next table is carrying a bag from JW Pei, Polène or a tiny independent label she discovered on TikTok three weeks ago.

For the first time in a long time, fashion doesn’t seem to agree on what the “It” bag actually is.

And honestly? That might be the most exciting thing to happen to handbags in years.

The biggest reason is that today’s shopper behaves very differently from the shopper of even five years ago. Trends no longer trickle down from Paris and Milan before arriving in Lagos. Nigerians are discovering brands at exactly the same time as everyone else. TikTok, Pinterest, fashion creators, celebrity stylists and resale pages have completely changed how people shop. One viral video can introduce thousands of people to a small Spanish leather label. A single influencer can revive a forgotten vintage Coach bag overnight.

Gen Z, especially, seems almost…