Trader Joe’s micro bags have brought totes into the conversation again – here are a few that have taken off and are gaining cult status
Are tote bags the new status symbol? Trader Joe’s seems to think so. The popular American grocery store chain is having a big year thanks to its US$3 mini totes, a product so popular the brand just dropped even tinier micro versions for a fraction of the price.
But Trader Joe’s is far from the only company cashing in on the idea of toting around an accessory which feels, if not quite luxury, somewhat exclusive. From cult favourite bookstores like Daunt Books and Shakespeare & Company to celebrity favourite food retailer Erewhon, more brands are turning to the tote bag to create loyal communities and cement themselves as cultural institutions to be reckoned with. Here are some of our favourites.
Daunt Books
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Founded in London in 1990 by former banker James Daunt, this independent bookstore chain has since become both a cultural phenomenon and a tourist hotspot. Bookworms and average visitors alike flock to the original store on Marylebone High Street, a former Edwardian bookshop with long oak wood galleries, skylights and William Morris prints lining the space.
The story of its signature tote bag dates back to 2006, when Daunt and his team were approached by Janjri Trivedi, the founder of Re-wrap, a social enterprise that trains women artisans in India to make reusable organic products. Initially an add-on gift for anyone who spent over £50 (US$66) on their purchases, the totes are now available to buy at £15 (US$20) a piece.
Daunt Books at Marylebone, London. Photo: Shutterstock
Notoriously sturdy, the bag is still made in India to this day. Once branded a “middle-class mating symbol” by Reddit and a “ubiquitous class marker for the literati” by The Telegraph, it’s helped make “cultured intellectual” the hottest look in town. And thanks to Gen Z, BookTok and “performative males”, it’s never been sexier to show off the fact that you read – or at least pretend to do so. Everyone from Emily Ratajkowski to Elizabeth Olsen is now a fan of the tote.
Like its contemporary across the pond, Strand Bookstore, a century-old independent shop run by the Bass family, didn’t anticipate that their tote bags would take off, and in fact resisted selling any for a long time. Both store and tote have since become emblems of New York. While the Strand tote bags date back to the 1980s, it was only a decade later that the iconic red oval logo came to be. Today the totes come in over a hundred variations, with special edition designs paying homage to famous figures like Michelle Obama and Frida Kahlo.
