Dust off the dust bags—Y2K-era It bags are back

It’s often said that what goes around comes right back around. Karmically true but sartorially too. It may have been a quarter of a century ago, but the influence of the early aughts on fashion is unmissable, especially this season.

Let’s go back for a moment to the Y2K era. It was a time of low-rise jeans and low-high culture. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen wandered the streets of New York post-Full House and pre-The Row toting venti Starbucks cups in one hand and oversized Balenciaga Motorcycle bags in the other; the boho stylings of Nicole Richie, stylist Rachel Zoe, and, across the pond, Sienna Miller spawned multiple imitations; and, closer to home, Preity Zinta’s blue lehenga in Kal Ho Naa Ho was pinned on vision boards everywhere.

It was the time of many trends—logo mania, bodycon dresses, Juicy Couture velour tracksuits—but the biggest and most lasting trend, in my opinion, was the birth of the It bag. As American Vogue wrote at the time, the It bag was “that totemic accessory that announced you were the owner of all that was desirable in the world”.

But why are we talking about these bags in 2025? In June last year, Elle reported that fashion marketplace Depop had a 1,1137 per cent rise in searches for Chloé’s Paddington bag, a noughties-era tote first introduced for spring/summer 2006. The brand obviously noticed and so, for fall/winter 2024, Chloé’s new creative director, Chemena Kamali, brought the Paddington back into the limelight. Long considered the ultimate boho-chic bag, the slouchy tote with a giant padlock fit in perfectly with Kamali’s aesthetic and soon sparked a frenzy.

Similarly, in December 2024, Louis Vuitton re-released its 2003 collaboration with Japanese artist Takashi Murakami. The new campaign was fronted by Zendaya, and the artist painted the brand’s most iconic accessories with cherries and cherry blossoms and washed the monogram in candy shades. Vogue Business shared that, as a result, eBay reported a 290 per cent global jump in searches for both vintage and new versions of the collection. Clearly, fashion brands and customers alike are diving into a heady love affair with bags from the 2000s.

What defines the It bags of the early 2000s? In terms of design, they were mostly oversized, preferably slouchy, with statement hardware, and often emblazoned with logos. The It bags of the era were not for the fashion wallflower. Designer Nandita Mahtani, who prefers to carry bags from that time, told me, “I feel the older bags are of better quality, and quite frankly they now look so different from the identical bags that everyone is carrying.”

Ahead, some predictions on the bags that will come back into focus from the women who wore them, then and now.

Fendi Baguette and Spy

The Roman fashion house of Fendi had a string of success in the 2000s. The most iconic, of course, was the Baguette, designed by Silvia Venturini Fendi in 1997 and considered by many the first It bag. The rectangular purse was cemented in fashion and pop culture history after it played a starring role in a scene from Sex and the City in 2000. “This isn’t a bag, it’s a Baguette,” Carrie Bradshaw pleaded with a robber who had their eyes on her purse. Kareena Kapoor Khan as Poo, another Y2K icon in the film Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, paired a black version with a sequinned waistcoat and blazer.

“It’s actually still my absolute favourite,” Mahtani says of the style. “I carry the wool and monogram version everywhere, and for most weddings I have an embroidered style that works well.” In 2022, the brand celebrated 25 years of the bag with new versions and collaborations with Marc Jacobs and Tiffany & Co.

Its second big hit that decade was the oversized, slouchy Spy launched in 2005, loved by Jennifer Lopez, and known for the long waitlist it spawned. Entrepreneur Pernia Qureshi was one of the lucky few to get her hands on one. “In the early 2000s, I was living between New York and DC. When I graduated college, I bought a black, shiny leather Spy bag, and I was wearing it on the streets of New York when a photographer took my photo for The New York Times Style pages, which, as you can imagine, was very exciting!”

Marc Jacobs Stam

A few weeks ago, I was watching Kate Hudson’s new show Running Point when I saw her carrying the famous Marc Jacobs Stam bag in black. “We really wanted Isla to be powerful,” costume designer Salvador Pérez told Tudum about the character’s fashion choices, “but we never hid her femininity.” Released in 2005, the vintage-inspired quilted tote with a heavy chain strap was named and inspired by model Jessica Stam. The brand retired the bag in 2013 but released a new edition—including a mini style—in late 2023.

When I was working in magazines in New York in the mid-2000s, the Stam was impossible to get. It was the ultimate downtown-cool bag—sophisticated, edgy and giving girl-boss vibes. When I finally got my hands on a tan version, I carried it everywhere. Running Point took me straight back to that time, and just last week I took the bag out of my closet. Here’s a testament to the bags of that time—even 20 years later, it’s good as new.

Louis Vuitton Speedy

The iconic Speedy was first launched in 1930 as the Express bag, a neat top-handle duffle-shaped bag designed for women on the go. Initially available in a logo-less coated canvas, it was soon updated with the house’s monogram and famously worn by Audrey Hepburn in the 1960s. Since then, the bag has gone through several iterations—shrunk down, painted over, graffitied, logo-ed out, or, as in the latest collaboration with Murakami, decorated with adorable cherries. “My favourites are still the Marc Jacobs-era Speedys with the '60s-influenced checks and denim,” content creator Himani Shah says.

“The Takashi Murakami x Louis Vuitton rainbow bags were everywhere at that time,” reminisces Qureshi. “The mini Speedy is especially hot right now; I see a lot of girls wearing it and vintage stores carrying it. This conversation reminds me that I need to look for mine.”

Balenciaga Le City

Just last week, my Gen Z niece came over for dinner carrying a very cool graffiti-ed mini Le City bag. Sisters Karisma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan have also been papped carrying their versions of the slouchy, hardware-covered shoulder bag to the airport, to school pick-up and shoots.

When it was launched in 2001 by Nicolas Ghesquière and called the Motorcycle City bag, it was seen as the antithesis to the more structured, logo-covered silhouettes that were the rage. But the style has proved so popular that it remains a favourite of so many fashion insiders across generations. “It’s a bag that looks better with wear and really is the perfect bag for a day on the go,” says lifestyle entrepreneur Petals Deas Kaji, who has updated her baby-blue version with charms and the item du jour—a furry Labubu.

Stylist Antara Motiwala Marwah agrees. “The leather actually looks better [with time]. I have a black one with gold hardware that is over a decade old, and it’s a bag I plan to pass on to my daughter. There’s something about this style—it has a bit of an edge, very rock ’n’ roll.” How she carries the bag has changed, though. “When I was younger, I would go with the rock ’n’ roll vibe, but lately I’ve been wearing it with a more muted palette, my white cotton kurtas, and a cool pair of slides to see me through summer. I love how minimally Rosie Huntington-Whiteley styles hers.” Mahtani has one too: “I have a blue Balenciaga Motorcycle. It’s run-down and the tassels are falling, but it looks cool. I also have the smaller ones that I carry inside my big totes.”

Chloé Paddington

In spring/summer 2005, Phoebe Philo sent the first Chloé Paddington down the runway. At that time, writer Sarah Mower noted in a 2009 Vogue article that “every one of the 8,000 made in spring/summer 2005 was spoken for before it reached the store”. In its heyday, the bag was spotted on everyone from Lindsay Lohan to Mischa Barton, most often than not with a peasant blouse, skinny jeans, and ballet flats—a full-circle moment.

When Kamali brought the bag back last year, it had that similar leather patina, slouchy shape, and large, leather-covered padlock, but she added some faux fur key rings and quirky charms for a 2025 spin. “As I started working on this collection, I felt that moving forward is just as important as honouring the past,” Kamali told Harper’s Bazaar. “What we once loved with what we love today. The memories of bygone eras.”

While Qureshi didn’t buy one at the time, her mother Nasreen did—an exotic lizard silver version that Qureshi plans to carry today. “I style my bags very casually. Like today, I have on a T-shirt from my university, a pair of easy pants, and sandals from The Row. Comfort is very important, and my bags need to be cool but also functional.”

Alizeh Agnihotri told The Nod that her mother Alvira’s collection is ripe for raiding. She laughs. “My mum has the giant Paddington bags—the locks are very heavy-duty, so it makes them very heavy. I don’t carry them yet, but I found a mini one that she has; it’s gold with gold hardware and I wear it with Indian outfits. I like the contrast—if I see a bag with a lot of shimmer and gold, I have been trying to pair it with Indian silhouettes to show how modern it really is.” Besides the Paddington, another Phoebe Philo-designed bag from her mother’s closet has taken Alizeh’s fancy. “A silver and black beaded Bracelet bag is one I’m really using. There were not that many made at the time, so I wear it with a simple linen outfit or a plain black sari. It looks like a piece of jewellery.”