It’s always easy to spot the freshmen because of their wide-eyed innocence, the giant yellow lanyards hanging around their necks, and their oversized backpacks filled with real textbooks (lol, who reads those?). Look, what you choose to wear on your back is important. Nobody wants to give a bid to the girl who ironically totes around a Buzz Lightyear backpack from Wal-Mart (not speaking from experience or anything…), so it’s time to add backpacks to your back-to-school shopping list. Remember that kid in your high school who brought a rolling bag to school? That’s how much of a home-schooled jungle freak you risk looking like if you choose the wrong vessel in which to carry your shit. Luckily these backpacks we’ve hand-picked are cute, lightweight (meaning no back sweat, you’re welcome), and will (probably) fit all your stuff. You’re so lucky you have us.
1. Rebecca Minkoff Julian Nylon Backpack
This isn’t like, a regular backpack. It’s a cool backpack. The absolute angels at Rebecca Minkoff took the Julian leather backpack and made it lightweight for the times in fall when it’s still hot as balls outside. Dreams do come true.
2. Baggu Canvas Backpack
This cotton canvas backpack looks like it belongs on the floor of a minimalist Tumblr bedroom, but you’re probably going to just fill it with shit like chopsticks you’ll forget about and crumpled up receipts. It also has a laptop sleeve, which you’ll probably leave something important in and find two weeks later.
3. Marc Jacobs Biker Nylon Backpack
If it didn’t sound like a bad line from an Old Navy commercial, I’d tell you that this Marc Jacobs backpack is fashionable and functional. Backpacks are typically kind of nerdy, but this one is Marc Jacobs so it’s actually sorta edgy (which isn’t easily achieved by nylon bags, but whatever).
4. Herschel Retreat Backpack
Herschel is kind of like, the Vans of the backpack world. Pretty much everyone has one now, and they’re kind of making us all look like hipster dudes from Brooklyn. But they’re functional, not ugly and can probably fit a bottle of wine water, so why not?
5. Kate Spade Watson Lane Large Hartley Backpack
I know we like, just said that Kate Spade isn’t cool anymore because of the whole Coach thing, but I’ve pretty much already talked shit about every other designer that you preppy betches probably love, so I’ll let you have this one thing, as long as you don’t get carried away. This nylon backpack is actually so cute and black and white stripes go with everything (just ask Kris Jenner).
