Who needs a manbag_

[00:00.93] We have so much stuff to carry around these days – mobile phones, keys, credit cards and laptops.

[00:08.89] Some of us might stuff them into various pockets in our clothes and others will put them in a bag.

[00:15.53] For women this might be a practical and trendy handbag.

[00:20.05] But how are men supposed to carry things around and look cool?

[00:24.57] The answer is a manbag! They are the height of fashion at the moment – a stylish accessory that modern men are carrying around.

[00:34.92] I'm a little cynical about these must-have items – let's face it, a manbag by any other name is a bag and I have one - my trusty backpack.

[00:46.08] However, senior fashion analyst for market research company Mintel, Tamara Senders, describes a manbag as "a bag worn by men, including backpacks and other styles such as shoulder bags."

[01:01.22] I can't see my old backpack being a style icon, but maybe I'm just not on-trend: According to Mintel, 15 per cent of men bought one in the UK last year.

[01:14.77] Maybe it's the name that's putting me off.

[01:19.28] Why does a bag have to have a gender? I suppose they're being marketed as a stylish fashion item designed to look good on men.

[01:27.25] I've heard that many big names have flocked to adopt the trend.

[01:30.97] Pharrell Williams, David Beckham and Kanye West, are just some of those who've been spotted rocking a manbag.

[01:38.94] My reservations about being seen carrying one may be down to my Britishness.

[01:44.52] According to Nick Carvell, the Contributing Fashion Editor for GQ magazine: "In Britain we are still very tied up with that idea of masculinity that is almost so fragile that it can be dented by carrying a bag."

[02:00.19] So, while some British men might think a manbag to be effeminate and not very 'macho', he thinks that many Europeans don't have an issue with toting such a fashionable item.

[02:11.08] Of course, if I was to exchange my old backpack for a manbag, it would come at a price.

[02:18.52] With people like Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Gucci and Dolce and Gabbana designing these bags, they can come with a hefty price tag.

[02:27.82] I suppose that's the price of fashion! And apparently, if I had any spare cash, I could complete my designer outfit by buying a murse – that's a man's purse!

[02:40.83] I suppose fashions change and we have come a long way from the days when men carried their things in a very masculine briefcase - sturdy, sensible and practical.

[02:51.98] Now, it seems, we have to put as much thought into buying a bag as we do into buying our clothes.