'IT Bag' Timeline

The bags of the season

Early 1990s - Prada's nylon knapsack
With its plain style and designer label placed on the outside, the nylon knapsack let people who thought they were too cool to show off to - show off.

Late 90s - Fendi's Baguette bag
Too small, too expensive, too flash by half, the baguette was the inevitable bag of 1999, warning us all of the bling-bling apocalypse to come.

2000 - Christian Dior's Saddle bag
Shamelessly ritzier sorts paid out hundreds of pounds to wear a saddle on their backs. Yes, a saddle. An ironic homage to Helmut Newton or the nadir of misogyny as fashion? The jury is still out.

2001 - Balenciaga's Lariat bag
Small and simple, and with an appeal utterly incomprehensible to anyone not obsessed with fashion, this bag became a victim of its own success when the Wags adopted it.

2004 - Mulberry's Roxy bag
The bag that made the once staid fashion label into one of Britain's trendiest and most successful designer brands.

2005 - Chloe's Paddington bag
It has got a pointless padlock that weighs more than a small dog and it doesn't shut properly. None the less, this became the object of desire for fashion-obsessed twentysomethings around the world.

2006 - Marc Jacobs' Stam bag
Named after model Jessica Stam, with its quilted leather and chain strap this bag bore more than a few resemblances to styles one generally associates with Chanel.

2007 - Marc Jacobs' Sonic Shopper
Another guaranteed winner. It's cute, it's pretty, it's covered with crystals. That it will cost more than £4,000 is a downside negated by the fact that it will be very easy for the high street to copy.



---Article by Hadley Freeman, Guardian Unlimited UK