Food-themed bags are the latest delicious new trend as fashionistas eat up bags

Suddenly, your dinner dress is a good look.

Just like a meal isn’t complete without the right ingredients, no outfit is complete without the right bag.

And these days, the perfect bag can look a lot like the perfect accessory, as fashionistas—including Hollywood types with taste like Melissa McCarthy and Julia Fox — tuck into an all-you-can-eat food-themed buffet.

Susan Korn, founder of Susan Alexandra, was way ahead of the trend for the cool accessory—she’s been making nosh-themed clothing since the beginning of her career.

“It’s mostly because food is one of the great loves of my life,” the 38-year-old, known for her bead work, told The Post.

“I think about it all the time and if I’m not eating, I’m thinking about my next meal. It’s like my whole universe is centered around food, so it’s always been a theme in my work,” she said.

“We all have to eat, and then there’s a large population of us who just adore the act of cooking, eating, writing about food — everything,” Korn explained. “These bags inspired by drinks or food – or anything, jewelry, clothing, etc. – really appeal to all the foodies among us.”

The enthusiasm for kitchen bags has been boiling over — and it just keeps getting hotter.

Korn’s customers are snapping up her Watermelon Dream Bag, Mini Martini Bags, Champagne Bags and a delicious Berry PEBBLES – Breakfast Vignette Bag – the buzziest of the bunch.

Those looking to indulge the produce-hungry trend will find themselves spoiled for choice by the current selection of undergarments—from bags to sweet green salad—and they’re using them, as pros like Korn explain. as a way to express yourself.

There’s also Betsey Johnson, who has created a pink watermelon-shaped bag, a picnic basket bag, and many fruit-patterned handbags.

Designer Anya Hindmarch offers a gold-stitched bag that resembles Kellogg’s Coco Pops cereal, a mini Kikkoman soy sauce bucket bag and a Crunch bar card case.

Retailer Lunchbox has a McDonald’s McFlurry Crossbody Bag and a KFC Chicken Bucket Fanny Pack.

Stoney Clover sells a bag that looks like a heart-shaped ravioli — and who can forget the Lay’s Balenciaga potato chip bags?

In late October, Moschino launched a $5,000 celery-shaped clutch called the Sedano bag, which debuted on the runways earlier this year and goes alongside their loafers, the Baguette bag, and the Rosetta bag.

Nik Bentel, known for his outrageous $250 pasta bags, has also created an espresso martini bag in collaboration with Absolut — and a clutch that resembles a box of Tums Chewy Bites, for those so inclined excessive.

Last year, designer Rachel Antonoff’s Pasta Puffer made headlines as winter’s “It” coat—but Antonoff didn’t limit the print to that season. She boasts an entire Edibles collection, complete with Amalfi Pasta Puffer Tote and Filthy Martini Bag.

And last summer, Kate Spade and Heinz launched a capsule collection celebrating “spice couture,” with bags and purses. Kate Spade fans can also bite into an apple-shaped crossbody, choose between two sandwich options, go for a slice of pizza, or opt for the entire box like Melissa McCarthy did earlier this summer.

Candy is also excellent.

Fresh off the heels of their viral Heinz collection, the brand, known for its chic food-inspired bags, also dropped an M&M collection on November 1st.

“Kate Spade New York has always been rooted in joy through personal style and self-expression, with products that deliver vibrant colors, playful patterns and dimensional textures,” the brand’s Charlotte Warshaw, vice president of Americas Wholesale, Global Licensing. & Collaborations, said in a statement.

M&M’s crossbody bags and coin bags look just like the circular, colorful chocolate snack that everyone knows and loves, and it also has a cross body that resembles the Peanut M&M’s package. Warshaw called the collaboration a play to put Gen Z customers “front and center.”

Smaller designers take the cake too, with Kinza Winza’s stunning Cannoli Clutch making its red carpet debut at the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscar Party in the hands of none other than McCarthy.

Last year, Puppets & Puppets’ bag of chocolate treats went viral on TikTok, and the brand even made its own series on the platform, “Cookie Takes New York.” The bag’s virality made it an accessory for stars like RosalÃa, Tove Lo, Doja Cat, Ella Emhoff and Julia Fox.

And while a small portion of food-themed fashion has turned into a whole smorgasbord, Korn says she’s happy to have even more reasons to do what she loves.

Nowadays, everyone is trying to appeal to the “TikTok, ignore-and-you’ll-miss-the-small-attention-span” generation, and handbags become a large-scale marketing tactic — almost like a “standing billboard,” she explained.

“When you see people walking down the street carrying a bag, or your bag is on your chair, it’s just such a powerful marketing moment,” Korn said.

“It takes food and drink out of a restaurant or out of the kitchen and into the rest of the world.”

Meanwhile, fresh off the heels of New York Fashion Week, Joe Ando-Hirsh, who garnered a lot of attention after designing Ella Emhoff’s off-the-shoulder dress for the Democratic National Convention, unveiled a collaboration with grocery brand Jimmy Dean, create a bag inspired by breakfast.

For the up-and-coming designer, his food-meets-fashion collaboration allowed for “some really great visuals and some really great light shots that were colorful and fun.“

Ando-Hirsh, who graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology in 2020, explained to The Post that part of the inspiration for getting into food-inspired fashion was bringing food back into style — literally.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 75% of American high school students say they skip breakfast because they don’t have time, and Ando-Hirsh wanted to help make the most important meal of the day something to be excited about.

He found the collaboration to be a “really fun, uplifting aesthetic” that “just made sense”.

“Both of us [Jimmy Dean and Ando-Hirsh] are trying to do the same thing, at the end of the day just create something that is digestible and is for a wide range of people,” said the designer. “Our audience is everyone…balls are for everyone. They are so accessible . They’re almost like a no-brainer to use.”

Not only are food-inspired bags eye-catching, but they’re also a way to express yourself.

“People are just becoming so open to finding different ways to express their aesthetic,” Ando-Hirsh said, adding that food is a “fluid and digestible” form of expression.