Phone slings. Like lawnmowers, apple slicers, and toilet paper holders, they came into existence to solve a problem. And like lawnmowers, apple slicers, and toilet paper holders, phone slings have since evolved into a status symbol to some, even as they've remained pure utility to others.
But unlike lawnmowers, apple slicers, and toilet paper holders, phone slings (or cases or pouches or whatever you wanna call 'em) are finally getting legitimately stylish.
Throughout the year, there's been a surprising zeal for zhuzhed-up slings that don't merely hold one's phone at the ready as much as they accent the outfit.
This is not a new development, of course, as the many PR emails in my inbox proclaiming a revolution in phone cases can attest to. But the interesting wrinkle is that phone slings actually are getting good.
People just ain't content with ordinary slings any more. And I say good riddance, who needs ordinary carrying options anyways.
You can trace 2023's first major phone sling rumblings to the early-year crochet fixation.
A handful of handmade crocheted slings first went viral early in the year on TikTok, part of a greater fixation on knit bits.
The appeal is obvious enough but phone slings are maybe the perfect crochet project, as they're universally appealing and useful. Tutorials for DIY knitted slings popped up across TikTok and YouTube in turn.
You could file the slings' popularity under the girlhood ripple effect, which isn't unfair, but I do think there's a bigger thread to pull on here.
Phone slings are an all-purpose accessory that're becoming broadly popular as folks realize the appeal of having an additional pocket dangling from their shoulder, keeping phones in place and adding some visual flair to otherwise ordinary looks. Even if you aren't a bag-wearer, phone slings make sense.
You could say that there's really more of an interest in little bags than phone slings and I wouldn't even disagree, though.
Affordable accessory brand Dagne Dover drove some TikTok buzz with its own teensy phone sling bag, which is more of a shoulder pouch than a proper sling. Still, it proved functional enough to get the crowd goin'.
But I see the demand as a broader trend towards phone-specific accessories because, firstly, who doesn't have a phone?
And, secondly, there's a widespread interest in useful accessories, things that grant day-to-day looks a little pop of flavor.
I see phone slings on a near daily basis here in New York, which makes sense. It's an active city, you're walking around, you want to have your phone on hand without relegating it to a pocket (if you even have a pocket). There's a lot to like about the sling.
The big gamechanger is the alleged Nike x CASETiFY collaboration, casually revealed by members of K-Pop group NewJeans in late 2023.
This collaborative phone sling situation goes far beyond the ordinary CASETiFY collab, which typically comprises a printed phone case or two.
Nike instead devised a technical sling situation accented with large 3D Swooshes and a pouch to boot.
Handy, stylish, actually pretty great — this is the platonic ideal of the contemporary phone sling.
It ain't just a Swoosh-printed phone case attached to a strap, you see, which makes the still-unconfirmed Nike x CASETiFY sling a winner. If real, of course.
Some other recent developments include a new iteration of Japanese accessory brand PORTER's unique phone sling, laden with a little pouch reminiscent of those wildly popular Prada bags that come with another li'l bag attached.
It's not a new design but it is an update to an already quite sublime phone sling, one that only makes it clear how good phone slings can be when designers make 'em so.
And, of course, there are plenty of phone bags from luxury labels though they're mostly like phone-shaped shoulder pouches than slings proper.
The line between a pouch and a sling is pretty narrow, I suppose, as these more closely resemble the crocheted slings in shape than Nike's CASETiFY sling, which dangles the phone from a dedicated case.
But the vibe is similar, which is all that really matters. What's a sling but a streamlined pouch, anyways?
And you can see the throughline between today's taste for heightened phone slings and Bottega Veneta's Intrecciato crossbody, Prada's Saffiano phone case, and the Hermèsway phone case, curiously only currently available on Hermès' Chinese web store.
Shame because the $3,300 case is quite clever, offering nooks for Hermès lipstick, credit cards, and AirPods, all in one luxurious leather package.
Technical brands like Bagjack have also long since dabbled in the realm of carrying cases best suited for phones but these are more like forebears of contemporary phone slings rather than ancestors of today's cases.
Not that I'm complaining either way. I love a little bag.
Still, though these things have conceptually existed since long before even the original phone sling, the wider interest in the style is new.
Folks are clearly acclimating to the benefits of having their doodads on a string carried 'round the neck or shoulder and I welcome the change. We could all use a little more usefulness in our lives.
Maybe it's just a result of all the over-accessorizing going down these days but if that's what it takes to make the phone sling as cool as it could be, I'll take it.
