I have been known to judge a backpack by its cover. Sometimes, I will admit, I have been so blinded by the sheer cuteness of a backpack that I forget that its point is to, you know, carry stuff. This obsession with cuteness led me to purchase an absurdly cute backpack for my absurdly cute (shameless brag) Lola, when she started preschool.
The fact that it was called Lola’s Garden made it inevitable. It was tiny. It was shiny. It was adorable. And fortunately, for preschool, it was enough. But then it was time for kindergarten, and again, I went in search of the cutest backpack ever. Naturally, I found it. And naturally, it was at J. Crew.
Unfortunately, it was too small for school. For the first few weeks, Lola’s teachers patiently shoved her folders into the backpack, day after day, until one day I woke up.
And I decided it was time to be practical. And buy a big backpack made out of something backpack-like. So I bought a bag from Le Sportsac with a limited edition artist print.
It was adorable. And practical. And huge. (Fortunately, by 2nd grade, she had grown into it.)
To make a short story long, function cannot follow form. Your backpack should be like your child: the perfect combination of cute and tough. And while I know that there are adorable backpacks everywhere, from Garnet Hill to Gymboree, Pottery Barn to Hanna Andersson, I decided to venture off the beaten path and round up the cutest backpacks you’ve never seen. Here, the hippest, most original backpacks of 2014. And all of these backpacks (and many more!) can be found on a single Pinterest board.
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