Are Fanny Packs Our Oldest Accessory?
To be able to predict the future of the fanny pack, we need to visit the story of its origins. As most of you may already have guessed, fanny packs were exclusively made for athletic wear. From a mummified corpse to a young hipster, everyone seems to be wearing it.
If you Google history of the fanny pack, you will find several stories and might not know what to believe. Some say they were invented by an Australian widow named – Melba Stone. She was inspired by a kangaroo’s pouch. But if this was true, what about Otzi the Iceman, the mummy that was discovered years before the Melba myth. It can be said with surety that not one of the stories are true or documented with proof. Mostly, word of mouth, these stories were either victims of a global game of the “Chinese Whispers”, or twisted by some bored but imaginative storyteller.
The only historical documented proof that exists of the fanny pack is in the Sports Illustrated, 1954 issue. The edit contained an ad featuring a 10$ worth of a lightweight, leather “fanny pack”. It was advertised and designed to carry a skier’s wax and lunch. It was also deemed appropriate for hikers, cyclists or any other athletes. Now this is a believable revelation.
The functionality of the bag led to its rise in the 80s and 90s and then its fall in the 2000s. Stylists, designers and scholars, all blame different factors for its demise. Some say it was because the functionality started to become appealing to the dads. Some say it was because the cheap fabric lycra had fallen out of use. Some say that fanny pack never actually left us at all, it was always lingering on the dusty counters of Walmart and Target.
Whatever the case maybe for its tragic disappearance, it is back with a bang. It dominated the streets in the seasons of 2018 and it continues to do the same even now. This extremely functional accessory became fashionable too when brands like Chanel and Gucci redefined it. Not dads, but icons like Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid are sporting it effortlessly.
As for the stability of its existence and the question of it being too last season to buy, only time can tell. Trends in fashion depend a whole lot on the trends of the society, polity as well as the economy. Functionality is the need of the hour; and fashion will always be the want of literally everyone. Anything that combines the benefit of both has more chances of survival than anything else. T-shirts, jeans, shorts, back packs are all examples for the same.
Well we can’t really tell you the future, but we can definitely hope that our ancient little accessory does not disappear!