Bucket bags are like the hobo satchel’s rebellious cousin. Utilitarian, roomy, and daytime-oriented, but the offbeat structure throws them off for a youthful casualness. Here’s a pick of some bucket bags worth tossing around.
Alexander Wang has updated his enduring “Diego” bag, now set in a luxer-than-leather calf-hair. Jet-black calf hair looks slick and slippery, giving the overtly edgy downtown style a sheen-filled twist that’s more sophisticated – and somehow, simultaneously more gothic. My only gripes? The soft calf-hair only covers the front of the bucket bag and the inner side is back to pebbled leather (although it will wear better as it rubs against your clothing, so it’s probably for the best). And by now you probably are familiar with the substantial weight of the heavily studded “Diego.”
Patchwork so doesn’t look like Grandma’s quilt when it’s in serpent and python skin! Chloé’s “Gabby” bag contains a full autumnal palette in one big bucket. Shiny panels of skin (like Wang’s it’s only one-sided, with a brown calfskin panel at the back) give it an eighties feel – one that’s not overtly retro. A scooped-out zipper, opposed to a traditional drawstring, is more hobo-like, and it means it’ll sit comfortable under the arm.
New York designer Wendy Nichol plays with rustic fabrics, earthy prints, and rough-edged leather. The outcome is surprisingly fresh. Her “Bullet” collaboration with Vanderhurd, using the India-based studio’s vintage handwover dhurrie textiles out of their archives, has braided straps and tassels so sleek they bring flow, not chub.
Alexander Wang “Diego” Rhodium-Studded Leather and Calf-Hair Bucket Bag on Net-a-Porter
for $975.
Chloé “Gabby” Patchwork Python Shoulder Bag on Luisa Via Roma
for $3,633.
Wendy Nichol x Vanderhurd “Bullet” Bag on La Garçonne for $885.
