NYFW’s Most Popular Bag Is Primed to Be the “Next Telfar”

Luar’s Ana is a born It bag.

By

Published on September 16, 2022 @ 06:00PM

We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. Learn more.

At least half of the guests arrived late to New York Fashion Week’s Luar show, held up by the rain and a ride share bottleneck coming from the celebrity-awash Tommy Hilfiger event. By the time we arrived, the line outside the door — and the security team that manned it — was growing testy.

Luar was one of the hottest tickets on the week’s impressive calendar, and it was clear that the crowds of editors, buyers, stylists, and VIPs were fiercely set on supporting the emerging brand. Invited guests weren’t the only ones surrounding the entryway, but avid gatecrashers, too. Still, it was almost impossible to tell them apart, as both camps were equally accessorized with the unmissable item of the moment: the Luar Ana bag.

Instantly identifiable by its signature circular top handle, the bag was present in many forms, from the classic black mini to an oversized croc briefcase. The Ana’s popularity had been on the rise since it was released nearly a year ago, and the eager Luar fandom practically pre-guaranteed it would be a hit. Friends and fashion enthusiasts have been rallying behind designer Raul Lopez since he co-founded his first brand, Hood By Air.

The Ana has become such a status symbol among the early adopting fashion crowd that it’s been dubbed “the new Telfar tote,” an assertion I can wholly get behind. Like the now-ubiquitous Telfar shopper, Luar’s Ana has all the characteristics of an It bag: an unmistakable look, a celebrity following (Rihanna and Dua Lipa are fans), and a frenzied fanbase — which stood before me, eager to ride the escalators to Luar’s Spring ‘23 show upstairs.

Nearly an hour after the show was scheduled to start, security allowed the final guests through the glass doors into the already-packed event space. And the show was worth the wait.

Garments conjured from Lopez’s imagination, pulled from childhood memories of family reunions, were brought on tour around a minimal Kabuki-like stage, where models paused in front of full-length mirrors to animatedly examine their reflections. Fresh concepts were mixed with brand codes, like Luar’s signature leather “belts” pinned across Oxford shirts and coat torsos and, of course, there were countless new Ana bags.

The Ana-clutching audience was palpably electrified by the show, and were mirrored by a parade of Ana-carrying models. It was a powerful scene to behold, and it made me realize that the Ana bag was only just beginning. If the Telfar bag — which has been carried by celebs like Beyoncé and listed as one of Oprah’s Favorite Things — is any kind of blueprint, the trajectory of the Ana bag is one to watch.

Shop the Luar Ana bag on its irrefutable path to It-bag-dom, below.

Luar Ana Leather Top Handle Bag