Nothing Beats a Sun-Baked LL Bean
Hot tip: the ultimate city bag isn’t some eye-wateringly expensive designer carry-all in an expensive leather weave from the Italian foothills. It’s actually just a tote made to literally tote heavy bags of ice around in the 1940s.
That bag, of course, is the L.L. Bean Boat & Tote, the preppy classic constructed with reinforced nylon stitching and handles that (allegedly) can hold up to 500 pounds, according to Bean itself. It’s this kind of simple, strong form that has won the hearts and hands of generations of Americans — plus a growing contingent of Japanese buyers, via the arguably cooler L.L. Bean Japan entity.
What other bag besides Bean’s tote has become a common sight on the arm of everyone from Hamptons moms on farmers market runs to a flip-flop-clad beachgoer trying to pack in all the essentials to, say, style magazine staffers hauling their heavy work laptop around without fear of the strap flying off?
There’s a strong cultural legacy here, but with legacy comes an issue for those looking to give the old tote some new life: how do you improve on a classic?
For Saturdays NYC Japan, a domestic-exclusive offshoot of the SoHo-born clothing label, the answer was to bring Bean to its own turf. Its update on the brand’s Boat & Tote Large and Groceries Tote Tall bags keeps the Maine-made craftsmanship intact, but gives both a more elevated city-friendly feel through unassuming shades of black, grey, and beige, and simple co-branding. Of the two, it’s the Grocery Tote’s slick embossing and snap enclosure that feels most aligned with the downtown label’s clean, tailored vibe, but who can pass up a Boat & Tote given a beautiful sandy shade of brown?
The slight iteration on the classic Bean bag works because Saturday’s NYC is confident enough to know that the cultural cache of Bean’s iconic bag doesn’t need to be buffed out, but rather added onto. Great news for people looking for a lowkey but elevated tote, but bad news for anyone living outside of Japan.
With a bag this ubiquitous, there’s no need to rock the boat (and tote, heh).
Highsnobiety has affiliate marketing partnerships, which means we may receive a commission from your purchase. Want to shop the products our editors actually love? Visit our SHOPPER page and subscribe to the newsletter for recs on all things fashion, footwear, and beauty.
