What started as a humble canvas tote soon launched an expansive collection of handbags in CJ Robinson’s closet.
The 28-year-old New Yorker is now the proud owner of upwards of 30 handbags and is part of a growing class of men taking after fashion-forward A-list hunks who flaunt designer bags.
Aussie actor Jacob Elordi, a fashion “It” boy in his own right, has been lauded for his impressive collection of Louis Vuitton, Bottega Veneta and Fendi, while Harry Styles, Pharrell and A$AP Rocky have been spotted with various designer bags. Even athletes, like Travis Kelce, LeBron James and David Beckham, tout ultra-luxe totes.
Slowly but surely, more men have adopted a handbag, or two, into their wardrobe — it turns out “Friends” character Joey Tribbiani was just ahead of his time.
“They’re something that I can carry around, I can still feel masculine, but it’s something that I can use and be fashionable at the same time,” Robinson, who works at Brandon Blackwood, told The Post.
For him, a bag is both fashionable and functional, looking chic while still holding the “million things” he tosses inside.
Jalen Noble, a New Jersey-based content creator, needs to carry his two phones, keys, wallet, eye drops and chapstick — and even men’s pockets aren’t large enough. So, he opts for a luxe leather bag.
“I noticed that when I would just wear pants with two pockets in them and that’s it, my pockets would look bulky,” Noble, 30, told The Post, adding that he needed a satchel “for convenience because I can carry so many things.”
“Some people might call them a bag, a satchel…or anything else that people want to label it, but to me, it’s just a crossbody purse. I love them.”
In fact, just last year, sales for men’s bags increased by 7% in 2022, Vogue Business reported. Sales of mens’ designer bags have soared 5% since 2020 — not to mention the proliferation of handbags on men’s runways, like Jacquemus, Thom Browne, Dior, and Givenchy, to name a few.
But the pique in interest for handbags among men isn’t all that surprising to NYC stylist Turner Allen, the founder and lead stylist at Style Turner who has seen a rise in men incorporating bags into their wardrobe.
After all, “men’s fashion has always been very utility-driven,” he noted.
Long before there were handbags or even pockets, there were girdle pouches, meant to hold spices and money. Then, per GQ, along came the structural, rectangular briefcase meant for carrying papers to and from work during the Industrial Revolution, followed by satchels, which expanded beyond the schoolyard to the big screen thanks to Harrison Ford and the “Indiana Jones” franchise, the titular character sporting one of the carryall crossbody in the ’80s flicks.
Meanwhile, the introduction of the leather satchel as a man’s work bag spurred a Wall Street pipe dream, as business execs became the poster boys for New York City’s ritzy corporate culture — think: “Mad Men”s Don Draper — in crisp suits, a blue button-up and a sleek briefcase toted by hand or slung across their shoulder.
But in the ’90s and early 2000s, the “man purse” or “murse” became a taboo punchline.
Matt LeBlanc’s character in “Friends” famously faced critique from his pals over a leather bag. Jerry Seinfeld ditched his overstuffed wallet and pockets for a shoulder bag, which he adamantly argued is not a “purse” but rather a “European carry-all.” In the 2009 comedy “The Hangover,” Zach Galifianakis sported a brown crossbody much to the chagrin of his buddies.
According to Vogue Business, it wasn’t until the debut of sporty crossbodys from Gucci and Supreme — circa the streetwear explosion in 2018 — that men took interest in wearing handbags as wardrobe must-haves. Now, they’re everywhere.
Noble, for one, sees them as a way to express himself — critics and gender role stigmas be damned.
“There is no fear that I have of expressing myself and having someone say, ‘Hey, that’s too feminine.’ Well, feminine to who? Feminine to you? Because it’s not too feminine to me. It’s just me,” said the content creator, who shows off his personal style online.
“I think when you get outside of this idea or fear of what other people may think of you or the labels that they put on you, it also is empowering to just know that that doesn’t define you.”
Just as Noble is inspired by the style of camera-ready celebs and athletes, his followers — of which he boasts over 2 million across TikTok and Instagram — have followed his cue, with men in particular taking a liking to his wardrobe and nail polish, he said.
While some fashion-forward New Yorkers may have their personal style in the bag, so to speak, others might not be ready to take the plunge.
Allen’s clients tend to be skeptical about carrying a bag casually, but their hesitancy often dissipates when they learn of the “utilitarian aspects of carrying a bag,” he said. Understated crossbody satchels tend to be experimental beginner bags before clients graduate to a larger accessory with more pizzaz, although it takes time to get comfortable with the style, he added.
Noble advised bag inquisitive men to try on various styles in-store that they’ve seen on other people, after all, “you don’t know until you try.” Robinson, meanwhile, lives by the mantra “form follows function” — first purchase a bag that seamlessly fits into your wardrobe for any occasion, and the rest will follow.
“As you take chances, you learn and you just continue to find your way with your own fashion sense,” Noble said, calling it “liberating.”
And, in the sage words of Robinson: “Just go for it. Take risks.”
