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The September Stories Issue

Fanny Packs Are Back, Whether You Like It or Not

Skepta and Supreme are embracing The Rock's former favorite accessory.

Say what you will about fanny packs, but they are practical. And so, despite mockery, they have endured. After peaking in the late 1980s to mid-90s, they weathered two decades of derision— clinging to the waists of lifestyle rollerbladers—only to resurface as unlikely style staples of the mid-2010s. Skepta wears fanny packs. Supreme and Louis Vuitton have collaborated on a logoed leather style. In February, A$AP Rocky wore a red Balenciaga iteration to Raf Simons's first Calvin Klein show in New York. Like Tevas, fleeces, and bucket hats, the fanny packs' renewed trendiness seems like a fortuitous front, behind which we can shamelessly enjoy their functionality.

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Still, the fanny pack's bad reputation has lingered. I polled the office and some friends. Several people said "fanny pack" immediately brought to mind tourists at Disneyland. Others referenced hikers, nervous travelers, EDM festivals, unfashionable uncles, and the royal blue JanSport fanny pack Jerry mocks George for wearing on Seinfeld ("Looks like your belt is digesting a small animal"). Continue reading on i-D.