In 2021, nothing is more magnetic than a person with plans. As all of us start to eye up the outside world and flirt with the idea of, y’know, doing stuff again, the mere sight of someone dressed as if they’ve actually got something to do that isn’t sitting at their kitchen table eating biscuits and reading emails is almost shocking.

The biggest signifier that someone has plans is more than a “going outside” outfit, it’s a gigantic bag. The sudden upsurge of stylish luggage is something we noted in our SS22 show report, with suitcases and weekend bags appearing on the runway with surprising frequency. And with Messrs Harry Styles, Travis Scott and Tyler, the Creator all pictured over the past couple of months carrying some extra baggage, it seems that a bag – any bag, really – is the accessory of the moment.

The outfits above all have their own merits, of course. But the showmanship here is less about, say, Tyler, the Creator’s schoolboy-on-acid sweater vest and more about what he’s got with him. Showing up to the BET Awards last month carrying suitcases was a completely unnecessary yet wildly appealing sartorial power move. What the bags contained is anyone’s guess (pyjamas and a toothbrush?). But it’s worth noting that Tyler’s proclivity for luggage was on show even before the pandemic, when he dressed as a Mr Wes Anderson-esque bellboy for the 2020 Grammys, complete with a suitcase carrying the outfit he would later wear for his performance.

In any case, suit or otherwise, you may be asking why all of these men are lugging all of this stuff around by themselves. They are, after all, rich and famous enough to have it carried for them by a posse of assistants, just out of view. The current proliferation of luggage is not necessarily a response to travel restrictions, it’s also an opportunity. An opportunity for Travis Scott to show off that gigantic Hermès bag, or for Harry Styles to continue his work as a Gucci poster boy, or Tyler to double-down on his ongoing luggage-on-the-red-carpet theme.

Still, it’s undeniable that the limitations of the past year cast the concept of a carry-on bag in a newfound romantic light. It’s not about where you are, it’s where you’re going. And perhaps that long-lost feeling of the grip on a suitcase handle is just too good to miss.