23 best Bets from Spring’s Bumper crop of designer backpacks

Don’t say we didn’t warn you, but over the next month or two, something confusing is going to happen: your favorite brand is going to try to sell you a backpack. even if you’re not a student. Even, in some cases, if you haven’t been a student in several decades and you thought the designers you prefer knew you wouldn’t ever need one again. Whether or not you’re receptive to their pitch is up to you, but it’s coming. If you’re a contemporary customer, it’s already here.

When we’ve written about backpacks in the past, readers have seemed split in the idea, at best. now that the trend has reached vital mass, with backpacks (or the euphemistically termed “sling bags”) appearing in spring 2014 accessories lineups at virtually every level of the price spectrum, we want to hear if your opinions have changed or softened at all. before you answer, take a look at the nearly two dozen backpacks below; some are brand new designs from brands who have gone all-in on the trend, others are familiar bags with double straps added by designers who seem to be hedging to see if backpacks are nothing more than a passing fad. (I’m betting on “fad.”)

Rebecca Minkoff MAB Backpack
$295 via ShopBop

DKNY x opening ceremony Sling Bag
$235 via ShopBop

KARA Backpack
$480 via ShopBop

Opening ceremony Izzy Backpack
$595 via ShopBop

Tory Burch Marion Quilted small Backpack
$450 via ShopBop

Elizabeth and James Cynnie Sling Bag
$545 via ShopBop

Karl Lagerfeld Kuilted Backpack
$840 via Net-a-Porter

Sophie Hulme leather Backpack
$940 via Net-a-Porter

Jerome Dreyfuss Florent Leopard Backpack
$1,140 via Net-a-Porter

Alexander Wang Prisma Backpack
$1,095 via Net-a-Porter

Proenza Schouler small Backpack
$1,675 via SSENSE

3.1 Phillip Lim Pashli Backpack
$825 via SSENSE

Stella McCartney Shaggy Rucksack
$1,295 via SSENSE

Aimee Kestenberg Tamitha Backpack
$228 via Nordstrom

MCM Stark medium monogram Backpack
$620 via Bloomingdale’s

McQ Convertible Duffel Backpack
$995 via Bloomingdale’s

Marc by Marc Jacobs classic Q Mariska Backpack
$498 via Bloomingdale’s

Rag & Bone Pilot Backpack
$725 via Nordstrom

Giorgio Armani Canvas Backpack
$1,850 via Barneys

Saint Laurent Rider Backpack
$2,950 via Barneys

The Row Drawstring Backpack
$3,900 via Neiman Marcus

Nancy Gonzalez Crocodile Drawstring Backpack
$3,850 via Neiman Marcus

Coach studio legacy Backpack
$258 via Coach