The Cult of The Prada Backpack

October 28, 2020

Growing up in a middle class family, the idea of owning a Prada or a Chanel was a distant dream. Lucky for young Haida, she is a dreamer, and watching movies referencing some of these brands were sort of an aspirational push for me to own one.

The cult of the Prada backpack somehow attracted me. Maybe because when I was in my early teens, Malaysian school kids would boast about their Tropicana Life backpack or ones from Rip Curl backpacks like its the coolest, but most of the American kids I see in the movies would gawk about flaunting their Prada backpacks as a symbol of status quo. Now why is this?

Why not Gucci backpacks with their cute bamboo handles? Why not LV backpacks during its Marc Jacobs prime in the 00s (which is coming back in fashion now totes, of course!) ? Or even Chanel backpacks with the oh-so-coveted quilted design and chain?

The stereotype of the girl with the Prada backpack is quite easy to define ; she goes to private schools or a prestigious mostly rich white kids would go to, is easily the most popular girl in school or belonging to one of the popular kids pack. The Prada backpack works brilliantly with this character and age group too - its sleek, in durable nylon design, not too obnoxious as to denote a more realitistic imagery of what a high school person can afford to wear and its emblematic triangle emblem that's sorta obscure, but totally obvious. It's a no-fuss backpack that is bot feminine and masculine, perfect for the great outdoors in the black design.

To be really honest I wasn't sure if it was due to the purpose of the article, or because somehow I really do seem to see Prada backpacks everywhere like some sort of Mandela effect, but the shape and style of the bag does seem to resonate throughout many teen flicks like Princess Diaries: