2023-05-31 15:45:40
From our special envoy in the hype,
The 1980s have this strange tendency to reappear episodically in our lives, before plunging back into the limbo of melancholy. Early evening et Crazy night coming back to haunt our playlists, Stranger Things and other series playing the card of nostalgia, and even the return of a mock Cold War. Despite this ability of eighties to resurrect everything and anything, there is indeed an object that seemed to be buried for good. The banana bag, which the 1990s had nailed to the coffin of the ultra-nerdy. And yet… You just have to go for a walk in the street to realize that she has made her big comeback on the front of the stage.
Sophie Malagola, fashion designer and former director of collections at DIM and Etam, confirms a strong inspiration from the 1980s in current clothing trends. The banana is not only found in Francofolies or to Rock-en-Seine, it is also proudly worn by Rihanna, Kylie Jenner, and designed by Gucci or Chanel. Excuse a bit. And for Thomas Zylberman, fashion expert at the Carlin International trend office, the famous bag is not even its first comeback. The accessory is customary for these thundering comebacks before sinking back into the shallows of old-fashionedness. A banana cycle, of sorts
The new age of the bag
But if the banana shines today, it’s less out of nostalgia for the 1980s than by embodying very contemporary values: “It’s a handbag no gender, for boys and for girls. The question of gender innervates the whole of society, and the banana responds perfectly to this,” enthuses Thomas Zylberman.
Unisex, and above all downright practical. “It is perfectly adapted to modern mobility, to be carried on a bicycle or scooter, to take public transport, taking up very little space and offering space only for the bare necessities: credit card, laptop , a packet of handkerchiefs, keys, and you’re done,” continues Pierre-Louis Desprez, managing director of Kaos, a firm specializing in innovation and brands.
“There is no aristocratic history of the banana”
The banana would therefore offer the perfect in-between: less gendered than a handbag, more practical than a backpack – we come back to its usefulness in public transport or for evening outings. And cheaper, adds Thomas Zylberman: “For men, it can be difficult to find a good looking and affordable bag. The banana offers a multitude of choices, colors and prices. For all genres and for all budgets: two subjects of the time.
The accessory does not have a very old existence: it is barely forty years old, and its lifespan can be further shortened if we exclude all its years in fashion purgatory. What makes its asset today, according to Pierre-Louis Desprez: “There is no great aristocratic history of the banana, it is a trivial object, coming more from the suburbs than from the bourgeoisie. It is beginning to find its letters of nobility only today with the big brands. Conclusion: “It offers him a rebellious side at a lower cost”. In the same velvet revolution category, this satchel, by its small size and its variety of models, allows “a touch of madness and color in more classic wardrobes”, adds Thomas Zylberman.
The nerdy, what nerdy?
It is necessary that youth happens, and that the banana finally writes its legend. Sophie Malagola gives us a bit of an old look on this subject: “Young people who wear the banana did not know its cheesy image in the 1990s, and do not have this basic a priori. Moreover, they wear it differently: it is more often over the shoulder or on the side” – like the Milkmaid up there. Nothing has changed too much in the end: worn at the waist, as a belt, as it was in the 1980s and 1990s, the banana remains has beeneven in 2023. The 1980s can indeed resurrect a lot of things, but there are still limits.
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