Leader of the Pack

Don’t call them fanny packs.

The latest carryall bags for men and women strap onto the body like a combination of a messenger bag, backpack and waist pack. In the new spring collections from Miu Miu, D&G;, Helmut Lang and more, the bags are an essential accessory.

Miuccia Prada says she created the look for her July 1998 men’s show, predating many other designers who have since picked up on the trend.

She described the strap-on bags as the next-generation backpack. The backpack “is something you don’t want to give up immediately because it is comfortable.” But fashion time marches on.

“The backpack is a basic, but it is not new anymore. I tried to find any possible way to leave your hands free,” she said. For example, a men’s messenger bag that will be sold at the new Miu Miu boutique on Melrose Avenue has a cell phone pocket attached to the strap that crosses the torso, putting it within easy reach.

“When we started doing it with the men’s show last year, it got copied everywhere,” she said.

The women’s utility bags have the best features of backpacks and fanny packs but give them a high-fashion finish. Some resemble an arm sling or cummerbund with zippers.

How are they selling?

“Like crazy. Like crazy,” Prada says. “I think it is going to be something real. I didn’t want to do something that was just fun for the show. I wanted something that works.”