The new It bag: Minuscule, invisible, unidentifiable

RAFFIA Salvatore Ferragamos jute-and-linen knitting bag with fringed edges

The trophy It bag became pass and a pariah in 2009, when the global financial meltdown made it vulgar and politically incorrect. But in fashion, what goes around comes around, so were witnessing the comeback of the designer bag. It is a low-key comeback, though.

This year the designer bag is small, almost minuscule, compared with the huge in-your-face bags that fashion victims positioned in front of their bodies to hide their flab and flaunt the cost of luxury bags just a few years ago.

Suddenly, bag designers have learned new ways to entice clients back. Call it rebranding, but todays luxury bags must look well under the radar and not just be noticed just because they cost a fortune.

Todays luxury brand bags have assumed anonymous, even androgynous, guises; their luxury is discreet and hidden.

Smart women today do not want logos or designs that are instantly recognizable when choosing a handbag. Gucci, Louis Vuitton, even Herms are

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developing new lines that dont look easily identifiable.

A bagaholic friend is getting rid of her designer bags through eBay. I dont want to be categorized, she explained. I dont wish for a stranger to look at me and instantly identify the brand of my bag and know how much I paid for it.

The recent Pop Art bags from Chanel and Moschino are humorous takes on fast food or supermarket staples. They have wit and self-effacing fun. More important, they make women appear intelligent. Only fashion insiders can identify that the carton of milk with the chain and leather straps is Chanel by Karl Lagerfeld, or the breakfast cereal bag is by Moschinos Jeremy Scott.

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The new It bag: Minuscule, invisible, unidentifiable