I hate your Longchamp bag. Yes, that navy–blue nylon thing you shove all your school supplies into for class. I bet it makes you feel really grown up. I bet you feel so special walking down Locust Walk with something designer.
Colloquially known as the Longchamp bag, the Le Pliage (“The Folding”) tote bag, is currently one of the most popular handbags among Gen Z. Once you start noticing them, there’s no going back. Here’s a new game idea: Walk from Commons to Van Pelt–Dietrich Library and keep track of how many of these bags you see. On a Sunday afternoon, with not many students out and about, my friend and I counted a grand total of 12. In between classes, you can’t even keep up trying to count them all.
Buying the Le Pliage is an impractical decision. The body of the bag is constructed of nylon and other synthetic polymers. Though easier to clean than leather, nylon has a shorter overall lifespan, and it’s extremely common for the corners of the bag to wear and fray. The Le Pliage also contains a cowhide leather trim that prevents the bag from being machine washable, thus removing the only perk that nylon might have offered. As such, buying the bag isn’t even the “investment” in a long–lasting, durable good that many who buy luxury items claim to be making.
Take, for example, Bottega Veneta’s iconic intrecciato lambskin leather bags, which are handwoven by expert artisans. The bags are almost all made in an atelier in northern Italy and are handcrafted from start to finish: no sewing machine, drills, or factory motors. This is a stark contrast to Longchamp, who lacks transparency about Le Pliage manufacturing. Some are made in France, while others are made in China, Romania, Portugal, Vietnam, and Morocco. While there’s been no proven discrepancy in quality across locations, there is much speculation and accusatory comparison.
The bag is $150 for the medium size, which can fit an 11–inch tablet, and $165 for the large size, which can fit a laptop. Though relatively inexpensive for a designer bag, it isn’t even leather. It’s one step up from the canvas tote bags that Penn gives us for free. If you’re going to spend money on a school bag, why not get something that actually makes a statement?
Here are my suggestions:
Balenciaga Le City Bag
This bag is popular but still special, distinctive, and visually stunning. You can also find it secondhand for a lower price and in a larger variety of colors than if bought new.
Prada Re–Edition 1978 Large Re–Nylon and Saffiano Leather Tote Bag
If you’re attached to nylon, consider switching to a better option. The only word I can think of to describe this bag is cool. Though simple, it is absolutely iconic.
Lacoste Concept Tote
Maybe I’m just a sucker for the Lacoste logo, but this tote is another minimalist bag that’s fun because it’s just different from what everyone else has. It comes in a bunch of colors too. I’m a big fan of the hot pink.
Burberry Medium Highlands Tote
This bag is classy and mature, but it’s a little more interesting due to the classic Burberry plaid. It exudes a quiet confidence.
Kind of random, but Urban Outfitters’ BDG pulled through with a bag whose strap can be shortened into a shoulder bag. This gives you a casual, trendy–but–vintage vibe. And it’s a third of the price of the Le Pliage—style doesn’t have to be expensive.
If you’re difficult like me and you like one–of–a–kind pieces, the best course of action is to dive deep into the Depop, eBay, Poshmark, or The RealReal trenches. It is quite a chore, but it’s always worth it.
Bag culture at Penn is like a nonverbal cult. The grouping is as such: If you’re a girl who grew up on the Upper East Side (or want to pretend you did), you either use the Longchamp or the Goyard. If you really favor functionality, have scoliosis, or are some degree of lesbian, you carry a backpack. Then there’s the nondescript faux leather totes, the messenger bags, and the plain old canvas totes, but these are like Switzerland.
The Le Pliage is boring. It has no distinct shape or cool texture. Most people own it in mundane colors like navy blue or black or grey. The resurgence in its popularity is unmistakably adjacent with the fame of the “clean–girl” aesthetic, one that favors minimalism in every aspect—clothing, makeup, hair—and is represented by brands such as COS and Aritzia. The Longchamp bag is also a staple of the “preppy” style, which consists of labels like Aviator Nation and Golden Goose. These styles are entrenched in exclusionary uniformity due to their expensive basics—and many are drawn to this exclusivity, to membership in an elite club that only money can get you into.
Though overpriced to me, the Le Pliage is quite inexpensive in the greater designer bag world; it is the definition of entry–level luxury. So why carry something “accessible” if you’re not really committed to the bit? Students carry the Longchamp for the same reason they wear Goyard or Canal Street Louis Vuitton knockoffs: the illusion of wealth. These bags are desperate attempts at becoming part of the elite, providing their owners with a false sense of belonging. If you have what everyone else has, you must be of a similar class.
When one wears the Longchamp, they know exactly what they’re are telling the world: I am put together. I am trendy. I am of a certain echelon—after all, I could afford this bag! Le Pliage is popular for the same reason everybody at Penn wants to go into consulting: It’s safe. It’s easy. It gives one the social standing they desire. It is probably not one’s dream, but it shows off status. This kind of Penn student does not want to fall behind but doesn’t want to stand out either. This emphasizes a significant flaw in Penn’s culture: a shift away from the passionate individuality that higher education is meant to foster and toward materialistic, monetary priorities and uniform thought. A fundamental misstep has been made in the construction of our modern society: We’ve come to value money over genuine joy.
So, I do not hate your Longchamp bag in itself—I hate that it is a shitty status symbol. I hate that it is a depressing display of herd mentality, and that it is continued proof that Penn’s vibrant corners are diminishing in number. I hate that it signals that many of us are settling for “fitting in.” And why settle?
