The Largest Tote Ever Was Spotted in New York

Say au revoir to the itty-bitty bag: 2020 will be the year of the schlep, the heavy lug, the big ole carryall. You can pinpoint the renaissance of larger-than-life bags right here in New York City. Yesterday, Nicolas Heller, the Instagram documentarian of all things NYC (his handle is @newyorknico), filmed a woman attempting to get through a subway turnstile with a comically gargantuan, highlighter yellow bag emblazoned with the Opening Ceremony logo. The bag, the mutated spawn of totes, was as large as a modest Ikea dresser and practically obscured the woman carrying it. She struggled to get the bag through the turnstile: At first, she dragged it through horizontally (bad choice), and after several tries, rotated it vertically to get it though. The woman, dressed in a black puffer, faded cut-off jeans, and black boots was carrying three bags total: The aforementioned gigantic yellow beacon, the brand’s signature red and blue tote, and a dainty red shoulder purse. The bag felt symbolic, as if it were ushering in a new age of big bags, a carryall Pac Man that would seemingly eat all of the tiny bags of 2019. Heller captioned the video with this question: “Are accessories getting bigger or are we just getting smaller?”

Heller raises an interesting point re: accessories and their largeness. Sure, Lizzo resurfaced meme-able small-bag antics last week at the 2019 American Music Awards with a pint-size purse that was custom-made by Valentino, but it seems that most bag sizes are trending upward. For spring 2020, Sies Marjan showed models carrying huge croc-embossed bags while the small-bag sensei himself, Simon Porte Jacquemus of Jacquemus, sent down a massive checked tote. Opening Ceremony will actually produce this humongous bag too. It isn’t listed on the company’s site as of now, but according to a rep, it will be soon. Branded as “Super Large Tote,” the PVC-made piece will cost $98 dollars and be available in two colorways: that blinding yellow and in black. It is described as the “oversized take on the iconic logo tote bag.” (No kidding!)

The bag is certainly attention-grabbing too, enough that the unnamed OC employee and her struggle ended up on Heller’s Instagram account that boasts 257,000 followers. After all, it’s one of those accessories that you can, well, literally spot from a mile away.