The air fryer, the tights with transparent panels, the refillable water bottle, the inflatable paddle board. Each micro-era has some objects that furnish and explain it, which for whatever reason solve new and specific needs and suddenly become necessary for many people.
There is one that has been colonizing chests and backs this winter and will undoubtedly continue to do so during the summer: the nylon bag from the Uniqlo brand, which does not sponsor this column. It’s (very) light and surprisingly capable, comes in eight colors and costs €19.90, but is often (right now) discounted to €14.90.
In addition to being practical, it generates a kind of affectivity and those who use it just want to talk about it. “Please do it”, all the members of this secret community asked me when I told them that I wanted to write about our kidney bag. “There’s just about everything, even a book.” “It’s like Doraemon’s bag”, “like Mary Poppins'”. “I have it in five colors and I’ll buy the pink one.”
Uniqlo’s nylon bag occupies part of the symbolic space left by tote bags. This other object has been defined as the uniform of the cultural precariousness, the symbol worn by people who suspect that they will not collect a good pension, or perhaps none at all. They are also tote bags, that is to say elements that serve to show off and identify. I went to that festival, I subscribed for 12 weeks to The New Yorker.
But garment bags have reached their peak. We all have too much. The pretty ones and the ugly ones. Borrowed, forgotten and those that accumulate, in an unsustainable pile, inside another tote bag. In addition, they slide down the shoulder and do not overlap with coats.
In front of these, the Uniqlo bag is presented as an accessory without gender or label, which leaves your arms free to put them in your pockets or load even more things. Before I got mine, in yellow, I gave one to a friend who was getting ready to change her life and was getting rid of serious handbags. When I saw her again, she already had two more, and had gladly embraced the new uncertainty.
