“She brought a ludicrously capacious bag. What’s even in there? Huh? Flat shoes for the subway? Her lunch pail? I mean, Greg, it’s monstrous.”
Over the summer, you may have seen the TikTok trend using this scene from Succession of Tom Wambsgans describing the purse that Greg Hirsch’s date uses. This trend mostly consists of two sides: users showing off their unique bags, like a wicker crab purse or an actual working clock, and doing a “what’s in my bag” style of posts based around bags by the brand Baggu. Although this trend of posts originally peaked in July, I’ve recently seen an influx of posts specifically about the brand Baggu, causing me to go down a bit of a rabbit hole.
Baggu was founded by the mother and daughter duo, Joan and Emily Sugihara in 2007. At the time, Emily had recently graduated from Parsons School of Design in New York City and worked as a designer at J. Crew for about a year. During this era, the market for reusable bags was slim, even more so, fashionable bags, which is what inspired the two. “There’s been many waves of people being conscious about environmentalism,” Emily told the New York Times. The year 2007 “was another moment of a new generation of people kind of waking up to the fact that we’re, as a society, making some ridiculous choices.”
Baggu slowly began to grow an audience with teens in the late 2000s, especially through their Teen Vogue features and affordable price point ($8 at the time, $14 for the standard bag now). Now, Baggu is appealing to a different type of teenager, Gen Z, particularly through TikTok.
Using the hashtag “whatsinmybaggu” on TikTok, you can find a whole sub-community of Baggu enthusiasts and other posts revolving around the brand. From “how much can you fit into one bag” (six Jimmy John sandwiches) to criticism of the “cult-like” mentality of the brand’s consumers.
Baggu is just one of many brands that has cultivated a massive, dedicated following by being able to create a community beyond just the products they sell. Only select brands can do this with the younger generations as, according to Amanda Montell, the author of Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism, “Millennial [and Gen Z] consumers in particular are the least brand-loyal of any generation of consumer.”
Despite my research and interest in the brand, the one thing that really fascinated me, so much so to write this article, was this community of Baggu fans who were in love with the brand. Personally, in the past, I have struggled with becoming obsessed with a brand and wanting to purchase all its products. For me, it was Glossier, as I was an active member on the brand’s Reddit page, r/Glossier.
So, I decided to do a bit of investigative research into the world of “Baggu Girlies”. While I was doing research, I found that in the New York Times article I mentioned previously, they featured a Facebook Page dedicated to just Baggu. I requested to join and began my study into the Baggu community.
Once I was accepted, I decided to create a post to ask the group five questions:
- When and how were you first introduced to Baggu?
- What drew you to the brand? What keeps you interested in it?
- Do you feel a sense of community with others interested in the brand?
- Have you (or anyone you know) experienced any type of obsession with the brand that could be perceived as unhealthy?
- Recently, Baggu has exploded in popularity in the past year on TikTok and other social media sites. If you have been following the brand for longer (prior to popularity), what changes in the brand or community have you noticed?
And to my surprise, I got answers within just a few hours of posting.
Many people truly love their Baggu’s, which is expected in a page called “Baggu Appreciation Club.” Laine, a Moderator and “Group expert,” wrote “Using my Baggus [has] a way of making every day things feel special. For example, my grocery runs are made more joyous by picking out which bag to use.” While Amyia focuses on sustainability, commenting, “Their original tagline was ‘Bags for the people. And the planet’ which I thought was so impactful and short.”
One of Baggu’s core foundations since its creation was sustainability. “When we’re doing a new fabrication, I do a fair amount of research into what’s the best option for the function we’re trying to fill … including the amount of water used and the total impact. We approach it first from a function standpoint and then we’re trying to find the most eco-friendly option that will fit,” explained Emily in an interview with Fashionista.
Yet not all Baggu followers feel the same about their focus on sustainability recently. Nancy, who’s been following the brand since 2018, told me “I think that the whole idea of sustainable shopping has gotten way out of the picture. At the end of the day, the brand doesn’t promote itself as being sustainable but rather sells things to be more sustainable. I think the scarcity mindset a lot of people have with the limited drops pushes them to panic buy even if they don’t need it.”
Recently, as Baggu has grown in popularity, many have felt like the brand has moved away from its original goal of being sustainable and have become a collectible commodity. While this exists with many brands, there has been an influx online of Baggu Collectors, causing the resale prices of the products to inflate. Especially with their recent collaborations with huge brands like Hello Kitty and Sandy Liang.
“They really had more of a sustainable push for a while, which they still do in some ways, but they also slowly transitioned to a collector’s brand. I’m sure it’s because more collectors started to really consume their brand and they reevaluated their mission — which is fine, most brands do! But also, the brand hasn’t changed much in a lot of ways, either. In their push for sustainability, it’s hard to get the masses to buy a $12 reusable (old price) when they can just buy a $2 tote from Aldi or a $7 one from Trader Joe’s,” wrote Amyia.
This changes from just selling sustainable products to creating products for consumers to obsess over and overbuy. This brings us to the talks of overconsumption within the world of Baggu. When I asked if being part of the community leads to overconsumption or unhealthy relationships with the brand itself in the Facebook Group, Haley told me, “‘Unhealthy’ is subjective to whomever the perceiver is … and those are the words of someone who has an unhealthy obsession with a brand. I have spent quite a bit of money that I definitely did not need to and have found myself searching for and longing for styles or colors that I don’t even particularly resonate with, simply because they are highly sought after and I can have the ~most coveted~ collection as well as trading power for things that I truly do want. Anything is fine in moderation, but I’ve had many back and forths with my relationship with the brand and bags themselves.”
Unfortunately, Haley isn’t the only one to struggle with an obsession with the brand. I’ve found numerous content creators on TikTok through the hashtag “baggucollection” showing off their dozens of bags. Some are the same style in almost every color. While not all Baggu enthusiasts take it to this level of extreme, it is interesting to note the number of fans the brand has accumulated.
Now, after falling down this rabbit hole of reusable bags, there’s only one thing left to discuss. My own opinion of the brand. Yes, that’s right. I caved. You think after flooding myself with non-stop research into the brand and writing this I wouldn’t be influenced? I’m not that strong.
https://www.baggu.com/products/medium-nylon-crescent-bag-bay-laurel-2
I purchased the Medium Nylon Crescent Bag in the shade “Bay Laurel” (or dark green). My first impression of the bag is the fabric. It consists of a thicker, rain jacket-like material. According to the site, the bag is made of Recycled Nylon “made with recycled nylon filament yarn, produced from pre-consumer waste.” Personally, I’m not super impressed with the style of this fabric. When I touch it, it has an almost scratchy texture to it.
But, in terms of the way it looks, I really like it. The bag, at first glance, makes you question how spacious it is, but as you open it up, it turns into a “Mary Poppin’s Bag.” I did want to use the bag for class, but it definitely can’t fit my 13” MacBook and water bottle, but it can fit my iPad. Inside, you’ll find two zipper pockets for more storage.
Ultimately, I will 100% use this bag whenever I go out or go anywhere that doesn’t require my laptop. Although, if I’m being honest, I can’t say it’s worth the $50. I love the color, and the thick belt that has the Baggu name brandished across it, but at the end of the day it is just a plain bag. Maybe I could justify it more if I had purchased something from one of their collaborations or one of their unique patterns. You could most likely find something of similar quality and design from another retailer for a fraction of the price.
Baggu has introduced me to a new world of brand loyalty and ended up making me do something I never thought I would … download Facebook. I’m still open to trying out more of the brand, like their iconic reusable grocery bags, but the price point is still a bit of a turn-off. In this digital age, it’s become evident that social media platforms, like TikTok, have major effects on the fashion industry. While it may be too early to say, Baggu could be at the forefront of what’s to come of the future of consumer culture. Despite their price point, Baggu shows that appealing to the fans, through sustainability and unique products, can build a brand.