Our Favorite Travel Essentials of the Year
Everything you need for your 2023 travel: our editors’ picks for on-the-road accessories that marry form and function.
This Saint Laurent tote will keep you — and your most precious items — both stylish and warm.
EVERY RESIDENT OF New York has about a million canvas tote bags stowed in their apartment, the discarded debris of trips to grocery stores, sponsored events where they’re handed out as party favors, or impulse buys at beloved shops. They’re incredibly useful for the walkable urban existence — an easy way to drag around your wallet, phone, sunglasses, small umbrella, AirPods, lip balm, magazines and books, and anything else you might need for sidewalk sojourns. But once you hit your 30s, it starts to feel silly running around the city with flimsy, often scuffed-up canvas on your arm; what felt casual and fun at 22 now seems immature.
Enter Saint Laurent, reliable paragon of chicness for over 50 years. Their furry crossbody bag in shearling is just about the most glamorous version of a tote you could ever hope for — perfect for throwing over your arm, stashing every single thing you need, and doing a little runway walk down the street. It looks like a hearty prop from “Nanook of the North,” a bag you could carry with you through all elements, a flash Manhattan snowstorm perhaps. And still, with its shaggy charm and dependability, your valuables would be kept safe from wind and rain. Most of all, it’s the perfect excuse to banish the cheap canvas tote from your day-to-day life — a fuzzy little “It” bag suitable for the sophisticated adult in all of us.
Alex Frank is a contributing editor at Departures. Based in Manhattan, Frank previously worked at Vogue.com as deputy culture editor. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, GQ, Pitchfork, New York Magazine, Fantastic Man, and the Village Voice.
Leandro Farina is a British photographer and director. He has worked extensively in the fields of still life and interiors, contributing to some of the world’s most prominent magazines and brands.
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