Spend an afternoon in Williamsburg or amble through the West Village and you’ll almost certainly catch a glimpse of a wide variety of tote bags hanging from the shoulders of New Yorkers.
There are Trader Joe’s totes, Lands’ End shoulder bags and an array of satchels adorned with various company logos, but one canvas carryall rises above the rest: the L.L. Bean Boat and Tote.
Eighty years after its creation — initially known as the Ice Carrier and intended to haul ice blocks — the simple bag is the hottest accessory for Gen Z style savants and celebrities alike.
But the same way Zoomers have made old things new again, they’ve found a way to put their own unique stamps on the timeless totes, which range from $40 to $55: funky monogramming.
“It was really popular amongst the preppy influencers back in the day,” content creator Laura Hoden, 30, told The Post of the Boat and Tote. “Then more recently, in the last couple years, I’ve seen it grow in popularity with the trend of getting it embroidered with fun little phrases.”
According to the Associated Press, L.L. Bean has seen sales of its humble tote bag skyrocket, reporting a 64% increase from 2021 to 2023 as the carryall quickly became the primary avenue to reach new customers.
While the Maine-made bag can surely still lug pounds of ice, nowadays they are filled with personal devices, groceries, books yoga mats, pickleball rackets and more. Toted by the likes of Reese Witherspoon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Chloë Sevigny and Sarah Jessica Parker, the carryall has now earned chic status and the style has since been dubbed “effortlessly cool.”
One search on TikTok for the L.L. Bean Boat and Tote yields hundreds, if not thousands, of videos as creators proudly show off their latest purchases and massive collections of all colors and sizes. Some have even brought their decades-old bags out of retirement from the depths of their closet.
Hoden, who is based in Boston and works in marketing, purchased her first L.L. Bean Boat and Tote in February after realizing she needed a way to carry her yoga mat and other workout accessories.
She joined the growing number of fashionistas who have branded their monogrammable tote bags with words and phrases other than their own names, a trend spurred by NYC-based Grace Wiener, who runs the popular Instagram account @ironicboatandtote.
“It’s just one of those things that makes people smile and makes people laugh, and it’s unexpected,” Wiener told the AP.
Hoden opted for “Loewe,” a nod to the luxury designer label, while others have ordered bags emblazoned with catchy terms like “unbothered,” “full of it,” “psycho,” “Prada” and “MILF.”
“I didn’t want to go the traditional route of names or initials,” Hoden said.
“[Loewe] is just a brand that I’m really obsessed with right now and it’s not a brand I can afford, but L.L. Bean was a brand I could afford, so I was like, let’s just ironically put ‘Loewe’ on this bag and semi-pretend that it’s a Loewe tote even though we all know it’s not.”
The price point of the sturdy canvas tote — which comes in 12 colorways, with or without a zip closure and a selection of sizes and strap lengths — is part of its appeal. The smallest bag costs $40 and prices jump in $5 increments up to $55. Monogramming is $8 extra.
“There’s a trend toward the utilitarian, the simple things and more accessible price points,” Circana analyst Beth Goldstein told the Associated Press. “Status items don’t have to be designer price points.”
