Beach bags used to be an afterthought – something you commandeered from a friend’s summer house or retrieved from the depths of your wardrobe once a year, squashed and misshapen and filled with sand. “That’ll do” was the beach bag mantra. It’s only for the beach, after all. But, if this season is anything to go by, designers have taken them by both straps and shaken them up, in the process converting them into the most-sought after side-kick to suit every situation summer can throw at you – beach, bar and beyond.
Yes, straw keeps getting slicker, and raffia just keeps getting racier but it’s the crafty crotchet, macramé and netted styles that caught our eye on the spring/summer 2019 runways. Chanel’s striped net in juicy shades of pink, green and orange comes with its own quilted logo pouch for hand-luggage size SPFs; meanwhile, Isabel Marant’s cream tasseled macramé style looks chicest against a wardrobe of summer black; and Loewe’s laid-back, oversized tote comes in many iterations – our favourite right now is appliquéd with a Ying & Yang symbol. Here are Vogue’s favourite elevated beach bags to tote across sand, pavement and dancefloor this summer.
Small tubeweave tote, £153, available at Trussnyc.com
Woven cotton tote, £116, available at Net-a-porter.com
Large GG Marmont macramé tote bag, £1,760, available at Matchesfashion.com
Crochet shopper, £39, available at Arket.com
Macramé tote, £110, available at Net-a-porter.com
Woven tote, £190, available at Sophieanderson.net
Woven net bag, £35, available at Stories.com
Crochet plait handle bag, £12, available at Dorothyperkins.com
Small fringed macramé and leather shoulder bag, £415, available at Net-a-porter.com
My Beachy SideBlue woven silk blend large tote bag, £215, available at Brownsfashion.com
Cotton shoulder bag, £340, available at Matchesfashion.com
Woven raffia tote, £295, available at Net-a-porter.com
Slit yin yang large bag, £895, available at Loewe.com
Fringed raffia maxi bag in terracotta, £780, available at Modesens.com
Seashell net bag, £49.99, available at Mango.com
Raffia tote, £ 2,790, available at Mytheresa.com
