The Daunt Books Tote Bag Phenomenon
How a humble bookshop and group of marginalised Indian women birthed the ‘literary-look’
Spotted moving from shoulder to shoulder of celebrities like Kiera Knightly to Emily Ratajkowski into the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2021, the iconic Daunt Books tote has made quite the appearance since it’s inception in 2005, courtesy of re-wrap founder, Janjri Trivedi.
Trivedi founded re-wrap to “enable marginalised Indian women to handcraft reusable, eco cotton tote bags for export worldwide, thereby helping them gain economic independence”. In 2005, Trivedi embarked on her mission, visiting Marylebone high street to pitch her brand to various retailers. There she gained her first client, Trade Winds, who began to sell Trivedi’s reusable bags which quickly proved to be a profitable success. This led Trade Winds’ owner, Caroline, to recommend Trivedi speak with James Daunt, founder of eponymous independent bookshop chain, Daunt Books, whose first shop was situated just across the road. And the rest is history. Trivedi and Daunt quickly began working on a range of appropriate designs for their totes in a variety of colours - perhaps the most iconic and bestselling to date, the forest green bag (yes, I have that one).
A few days ago, my interest in the Daunt tote was re-calibrated when Emily Ratajkowski put a halt to my mindless scrolling on Instagram. To my surprise, she was spotted strutting down a New York street carrying no other than a black Daunt Books canvas bag. This is rogue, I thought. Whilst hugely successful and internationally widely known, to me, Daunt Books continues to live in my imagination as an intimate, exclusive, and very quintessentially English, small independent booksellers. So to see such a high profile American supermodel carrying one of their totes, in that moment, felt like the merging of two dimensions. I was inclined to challenge the sensation of disruption I felt, and after pondering for a few minutes, came to the conclusion that of course ‘Emrata’ would own one of these bags. Last year I was utterly gripped by her collection of essays in My Body, after thoroughly enjoying her piece, Buying Myself Back: When does a model own her own image? initially published in The New York Times in 2020. I was fortunate enough to discuss both of these works with her at the Women of the World literary festival in 2022, where she encouraged me with my own writing (thanks, Em if you’re reading this).
Anouk Lepère (right), 2008.
But when did the Daunt tote phenomenon start? I have tracked down its initial celeb appearance to 2008, when no other than Belgian model, Anouk Lepère, was spotted carrying the iconic forest green number during Fashion Week. And so the humble Daunt Tote was propelled into the limelight, and began gaining high-profile, international recognition. What was once a practical device to carry goods and indicate ones status as an eco-warrior who would never forget to brandish their crusty, trusty tote at the Tesco checkout… but also would never resist bagging a cheap flight to Malaga and consistently forgets to do their recycling… is now a coveted signpost of intellectualism. This kind of virtue signalling is a way to tell people that you read, you visit bookshops, that author talks are scheduled into your social calendar. In the same way that designer brands allow celebrities and influencers (or anyone with money?) to gain capital, the literary tote enacts the same function in bookish, academic circles. As Hannah Marriott wrote for The Guardian in 2015, totes have become a “potent status symbol”. Interestingly I noticed an overlap between the two groups (these being the ‘celebrity’ and ‘pseudo-intellectual’) in the ‘Primrose Hill Posse’ - aka the middle class celebs living in leafy North London around the 90s-2000’s who were often papped with their Daunt bags in tow.
Left to Right, Pippa Middleton, Kiera Knightley, Helena Bonham-Carter, Benedict Cumberbatch sporting Daunt totes.
Since last year, tote bag sales at major book retailer, Waterstones, have increased by a whopping 633%. Of course the meaning behind these purchases, whether they be environmental, practicality or a passion for fashion, are unknown. But I suspect we will continue to see the literary tote on the arms of celebs and general public alike as we continue our pretentious march into the future. Although as I tell many a customer, there are worse things to spend your money on than books… or bags to keep them in.