Mesh Bags Are the “Dated” Summer Bag Trend Fashion People Love

If last summer was the season of the mesh flat—delicately sheer, ballet-inspired, and Instagram’s unlikely darling—this summer, fashion’s fixation with transparency has moved beyond the pale. Enter the mesh market tote. Once relegated to errand days or grandma-core aesthetics for the farmers market, this breezy bag is being revived this summer. At the center of this quiet revolution is The Row’s now-viral Barn Tote: see-through, softly structured, and with a slight bit of playful color with a hard-to-miss striped design. At first, I thought it was just me seeing the bag everywhere. (Could people actually be into mesh bags post-2020?) But Kylie Jenner sealed the deal for me after I saw her wearing the Barn Tote on Instagram during a recent trip to Italy.

Much like the mesh flat’s appeal—equal parts practical and provocative—the new-era mesh bag is about balancing utility with a touch of freaky exhibitionism. A clever glimpse of your curated chaos (SPF 50, an Emily Henry summer read, and those chic Heaven Mayhem sunglasses) says more about your personality than anything else. It’s styling as soft power. Much like the flats that came before them, these mesh market totes are wildly adaptable: slung over the shoulder with a poplin shirt and vintage Levi’s, or paired with a breezy linen dress for an air of casual summer mystique.