Rihanna Is The Queen Of Multi-Bagging & You Can Be Too With These High Street Dupes

Fashion loves a weird trend every now and then. And at the moment, every fad seems to revolve around bags. First, there were teeny tiny bags. Then, transparent accessories took over. Now, it's all about wearing five bags at once. Unsurprisingly, Rihanna rocked the multi-bagging trend without looking like a gap year traveller and now you can be sure where she goes, others will follow.

Arriving to watch Virgil Abloh's Louis Vuitton menswear debut in Paris, RiRi wore an all-white look comprised of a tailored white jumpsuit and not one, not two, but three bags. In one hand, the 30-year-old carried a see-through duffle bag. Around her waist was Louis Vuitton's Danube bag and on her shoulder was a monogrammed circular design — also by the Parisian label.

Just like most trends in the fashion world, the art of multi-bagging isn't particularly functional. Trying to assemble an outfit with multiple bags that leaves your hands free is near enough impossible. And half of the current handbag designs on offer are so small that you can barely fit a phone inside them let alone anything else.

In fact, the whole point seems to be not to carry anything at all. Rihanna's biggest bag was transparent, allowing us to see that the singer-slash-actress was simply lugging around yet more Louis Vuitton-branded goods instead of anything useful.

I have a couple of questions about this new movement. One: Why can't designers just, I don't know, put pockets on women's clothing? Not the fake pockets that so many of us have to deal with but actual pockets that can hold keys, cards, phones, and more. If men get the privilege of not carrying a bag, I want it too.

Two: Is this just another money-making game? I mean, how much is carrying around three or four bags going to cost? For those of you who are into bags, you'll already know that a decent carryall isn't the cheapest thing in the world. Multiple bags could easily set you back a couple of hundred pounds (if not more).

Multi-bagging has been seen on both the womenswear and menswear catwalks. Fendi's AW18 men's show saw male models dripping in designer bags including bumbags, cross-body styles and traditional totes. Two seasons before, Gucci's women sauntered down the runway wearing three small handbags on just one shoulder.

The trick to finessing the utilitarian trend appears to be two smaller bags (perhaps a bumbag and shoulder style) paired with a much bigger duffle-type design. While it can be hard to find coordinating styles on the high street, you don't have to resort to shopping in mega-expensive designer stores.

Whatever you think of this multi-bagging trend, you can thank Rihanna for bringing it to the attention of the entire world. You may hate the idea now but give it a few weeks and you'll be clamouring to buy matching bags just like the rest of us.

Here's a few affordable options to get you started: