Briefcases fade as backpacks dominate men's fashion

Briefcases lose ground: Backpacks win the battle for professional men

Why does nobody carry a briefcase anymore? The question, which sounds like a cliché joke, hides a real transformation in male consumption: the rigid leather briefcase, that object defining the promising employee, has been replaced by the backpack, the crossbody bag and, in the worst cases, the tote bag. The diagnosis running through this conversation is twofold: practical comfort and a certain aesthetic infantilization of the adult male. The backpack leaves hands free; the briefcase occupies an arm, and that functional advantage, repeated ad nauseam, has ended up weighing more than any consideration of style.

What was lost with the disappearance of the briefcase

The first argument that appears is industrial. The briefcase had its own value chain: leather workshops, hardware, leather goods. Today, some participants argue, nothing national remains in Spain and companies still advertising themselves as briefcase manufacturers offer products that do not meet classic terminology. The complaint is not just nostalgic: it points to a loss of craft and a substitution of materials with plastics and technical fabrics.

The second argument is about status. The briefcase was for decades a transversal object: carried by executives and also modest employees, salespeople, plumbers transporting tools. Today it is associated with mobsters or elites, according to the harshest reading. That is, it has gone from being a symbol of work normality to a niche accessory, almost suspicious.

Is the backpack more comfortable than the briefcase?

Yes, and that is the broadest consensus. The backpack distributes weight across both shoulders, frees hands and allows walking, taking the subway or checking the phone without letting go of anything. In contrast, the briefcase forces hand changes, gets caught, and on long trips ends up feeling heavy. You would have to be very backward to choose the briefcase, summarizes an intervention condensing the majority stance.

But comfort has a cost. Several messages point out that the backpack is more vulnerable to theft from behind: a pull and the owner falls, or a cut and the content disappears without the carrier noticing. The briefcase, however, is held firmly and in view. Security here favors the old object.

Paper hasn't died and neither should the briefcase

A recurring objection to the digitalist narrative: printers use more paper than ever. Before, one copy was made with carbon paper; now twenty are printed just in case. In sensitive meetings, paper documentation is still required and often phones are banned to avoid leaks. The briefcase, in that context, is not a fossil: it is the only reasonable container for a folder, a laptop and a charger.

Some recall that a briefcase holds a laptop and all technical equipment. The response is that fewer people move laptops: work is done from phones or the cloud. And distrust enters there: uploading private data to the cloud is handing them over, and a serious office worker shouldn't do it. The briefcase, in that logic, was also a form of physical custody.

Fashion replacing the briefcase: crossbody bags, purses and sneakers

The gaining alternative is not just the backpack. Messenger bags, crossbody bags and light laptop briefcases worn on the shoulder appear. Criticism points out that the market pushes designer purses at gold prices while the functional briefcase devalues. Current fashion tends towards comfort because users demand it, summarizes an intervention, although another adds a health nuance: technical backpacks accumulate plastics and chemical compounds carried all day.

The debate drifts toward footwear. More than the briefcase, what has been lost are shoes: sports sneakers have imposed themselves as daily footwear, indicating, according to this reading, excess comfort and little effort to please. Male attire, overall, has relaxed.

---

The uncomfortable question remains: if the briefcase was so practical, sober and useful, why does nobody miss it in the subway queue? Perhaps because the adult man no longer needs to look like one. Or because comfort, that perfect alibi, always wins.