Backpack Comeback: 5 Stylish Picks That Go From Office to Airport

If it seems like everyone around you, in every demographic, is carrying a backpack these days, you’re not imagining this trend. Known as a knapsack before the term “backpack” was coined in 1914, this all-purpose tote is enjoying a surge in popularity. According to the London-based Business Research Company, backpack sales are expected to increase by 5.7 percent in 2025, totaling $21.74 billion.

The reasoning, of course, isn’t complicated. Whether you’re getting on a plane or traversing a daily commute from home to office, chances are you’re trying to seamlessly blend your personal and professional items into one bag that accommodates your needs while reflecting your individual style. The ability to sling the bag over one or both shoulders—or perhaps remain small enough to fit under an airplane seat—also may be chief among your priorities.

The result: Even if you’ve never considered yourself a “backpack person” in the past, you easily can be excused for realizing it’s perfect for multiple purposes. With that in mind, we gathered five hot styles, each offering user-friendly features and designs sure to suit every personality.

Gucci GG Canvas Medium Backpack

Among the surge in backpack sales is the trend of fashion brands leaning into the style and creating unisex pieces. That’s true of this backpack from Gucci’s Spring 2025 collection, a sleek look crafted in the house’s iconic and highly durable GG coated canvas. Leather trim, a touch of signature green and red striped webbing, and a front zipped pocket (perfect for stowing and retrieving your phone) are the exterior’s only adornments, while interior features include a padded laptop compartment and pen holder. $2,700, at gucci.com 

Bric’s X-Travel Montagna Backpack

Famed Italian luggage brand Bric’s has released a collection crafted in recycled satin nylon. Among the pieces offered in the sustainable fabric is this Montagna Backpack from the label’s X-Travel collection. This roomy, 21-liter backpack weighs just 2.45 pounds when empty and features top and side leather handles, exterior zipped pockets that include buckled straps for added compression, a luggage sleeve to slip on a rolling back for speeding through an airport, and a padded laptop and tablet sleeve with Velcro fastening. $170, at bricstore.com

Mission Workshop Control EPX Pack

Mission Workshop designs a collection of backpacks, bags, ready-to-wear and other accessories rooted in a love of outdoor recreation. Among the benefits of the Control EPX Pack is that it’s highly customizable, allowing the owner to select pouches and other accessories that affix easily to the exterior (the Kit 2 style, which includes the base bag with front Folio pouch and two Side Roll pouches, is seen here). Standard features include a fully adjustable harness, both front and top loading and an external laptop compartment that accommodates a 16-inch MacBook Pro, all crafted in an ECOPAK fabric that’s sustainably designed. $625, at missionworkshop.com

Shinola Runwell Backpack

Celebrated for crafting timepieces in a factory space in Detroit’s historic Argonaut Building, Shinola expanded beyond the leather straps needed for its watches to design a collection of leather accessories, including this Runwell Backpack. The piece, made of a
premium pebbled leather that only gets better with age, features both front and rear zipped pockets, a padded sleeve that holds up to a 15-inch laptop, and multiple interior pockets. $995, at shinola.com

Portland Gear Cascade Backpack

If frustration has ever set in while you rummage through your backpack, Portland Gear offers a solution for that problem. The Cascade Backpack features a top that opens wide courtesy of its wire frame, then doubles down on visibility with a lining in a hue the brand has dubbed Easy-See gray, to maximize an instant view of everything inside. Features include an adjustable strap and chest buckle, padded laptop sleeve, hidden security pocket for valuables, a variety of inner slip pockets, and dual water-bottle sleeves. The Cascade Backpack is available in two sizes—a 13.5-liter compact style and the 21-liter standard size seen here—as well as a variety of colors, including this blue-tinged Cloud. $109, at portlandgear.com