Good Design: The Fanny Pack
Fashion and engineering seem like they’re on different ends of the design spectrum. Yet overlap does occur, and at the intersection of fashion and engineering, great things happen. Things like the fanny pack.
The Art of Meeting Needs
Often, fashion fails to address the need for functionality, particularly women’s fashion. Our pants don’t have pockets. Most of our purses are big and unwieldy. The smaller ones simply don’t have enough room. Handbags are a horrible idea altogether because the entire premise is that they require the constant use of your hand. So when you need to leave the house, you are forced to choose between an entirely inconvenient accessory or just carrying around your phone, keys, and wallet during the whole excursion, hoping you won’t drop or lose them.
Cue the fanny pack. Fanny packs were ragingly popular in the 80s and 90s before falling deeply out of style for many years. Their recent resurgence has revolutionized the way people, well, carry their stuff around (I, for one, haven’t used a purse in months). Hindsight is 20/20, and it seems ridiculous that we shunned the fanny pack for so long before deciding it was time to bring it back, because it is so incredibly useful. Fashion designers often prioritize form over function, but when it comes to the fanny pack, there is no compromise. Just beautiful harmony. The design is so simple, yet solves so many problems. The bag is lightweight, secure, and just the right size– it’s the most practical thing around.
To meet a need, you first must recognize that a need exists. Fanny packs are a utilitarian dream and know a thing or two about meeting needs. They can be used for running errands, hiking, traveling– you name it. I use mine just about every day, and I wonder how I ever got along without it. But sometimes it takes a stroke of genius to recognize a need that is hiding in plain sight. And once you’ve recognized that a need exists, you’ve got to recognize a good solution.
One of many pictures from my recent Yellowstone trip that features fanny packs.
Hidden in History
As it turns out, fanny packs have been around for thousands of years. Ötzi the Iceman, an archeological treasure from over 5300 years ago, wore a belt with a pouch sewn onto it containing a few of his tools [1]. The fanny pack is not a new idea by any means. Our keys/phone/wallet problem has been solved before– it was just an awl/flint/tinder problem back then.
Ötzi the Iceman's “Belt with sewn-on Pouch,” his accessory of choice [1].
Take a step back from fanny packs and consider the broader picture of engineering design. Do we sometimes overlook good solutions because they’ve already been used? Because we think the solution must be outdated, and surely we have something better by now?
There’s a lot of innovation to be had, but there’s a lot of great innovation that’s been had already. Don’t be afraid to reuse and revamp good solutions just because they are from the past.
Beware the Bandwagon
In the 1980s, fanny packs were all the rage. But sometime shortly thereafter, they became very uncool. They were the symbol of the tacky American tourist. This stereotype was devastating to the fanny pack’s success. No matter how convenient it might be, any self respecting person wouldn’t be caught dead wearing one. Sorry, Ötzi. But that could never have been me. At least, that’s how I felt only a few years ago.
Fanny packs, as wonderful as they are, had the misfortune of falling victim to the bandwagon effect. The bandwagon effect embodies group thinking, where people will make decisions based on what others around them are doing, rather than on their own beliefs. Since fanny packs were collectively viewed as “uncool,” it didn’t really matter how brilliantly designed and incredibly convenient they were. Fanny packs couldn’t recover from the effect of the disapproval of the fashion community until public sentiment shifted.
Consider, once again, the implications for the world of engineering design. Have you ever overlooked a great solution because you felt it was uncool? Because it wouldn’t be chic or glamorous enough to impress your colleagues and competitors? We should beware of blindly following the bandwagon. On the other hand, products fail when the market disapproves, and sometimes the market disapproves for a very valid reason. Jumping off the bandwagon certainly has its risks, and sometimes it is best to stick with the crowd. We should be aware of when a bandwagon is happening and think critically about why it is happening to rid ourselves of undue biases and make the best design decisions possible.
The Power of a Rebrand
How did the fanny pack make its big comeback? I’m not totally sure, but this is a pattern that occurs regularly in fashion. What goes around comes around, and that includes cheetah print, scrunchies, claw clips, and fanny packs. Eventually, people seem to collectively decide that what was uncool is cool again, and boom. The fanny pack is once more in our good graces, beloved by all.
But wait a second– this doesn’t happen with all trends, does it? How about legwarmers? Or lowrise jeans? Sometimes, ideas are simply bad. And that doesn’t just apply to fashion. The reason the fanny pack could successfully rebrand is because it has always been a brilliant product. But the fatal flaw of the 1980s fanny pack was that it focused exclusively on functionality, ignoring the importance of fashion.
For the fanny pack to make its comeback, it desperately needed an upgrade. Most reused solutions do. The same simple design of a belt with a pouch holds true, but now with more versatility: you can wear a bag cross-body or the classic way, like a belt. The style of the bag is often minimalist, but there are endless options available, and a variety of sizes, too. Everyone can find the bag that’s perfect for their specific needs. Even the name itself has been redesigned to dissociate our instinctive aversion: fanny packs were the uncool dad accessory of the past, but belt bags are the hottest new trend.
They’re no longer just functional. They’re fashionable, too.
Thanks Where It's Due
Now, fanny packs are pretty much everywhere. Amazon and Wal-mart sell them, but so do Saint Laurent and Gucci. Not to mention trendy sportswear companies such as Patagonia and Cotopax. A friend of mine recently purchased Zara’s Kids Color Changing Crossbody Bag, which turns pink in the sun. Headlines read that the “Lululemon Everywhere Belt Bag is Taking Over,” and if you’ve been outside during the past few months, you know this is true [2]. And this phenomenon is all thanks to the implementation of a few great design principles.
Lululemon's Everywhere Belt Bag (and it most certainly is everywhere).
Successful designers recognize and meet needs. They reuse old ideas in new and innovative ways. They think critically about their decisions instead of giving in to peer pressure. And they recognize the importance of brand perception, sacrificing neither practicality nor style. When designers value both form and function, they create things that people love– things like the fanny pack.
Sources:
https://www.iceman.it/en/clothing/, accessed July 9th 2022.
https://nypost.com/article/why-the-lululemon-everywhere-belt-bag-is-taking-over/, accessed July 9th 2022.
