What brand of backpack for secondary school?

[peggyblackett]

DD2 is starting secondary school in Sept and needs a new backpack. What brands are popular?

I’m loathe to buy something random only for her to then not use it as no-one else has one. This is probably based on my own childhood of never having the cool stuff!

Think nike is always a safe option.

Have they broken up yet? Go to the school and watch the kids come out to see the types of bag they use. At my kids school all the boys have black Nike backpacks. The girls vary between shoulder bags and back packs, but all in neutral dark colours.
The primary school all have hype backpacks so it’s a change.

My daughter has just bought a Nike one for starting high school. It had to be Nike according to her.

Plain black to fit in. I got an under armour which has done the first year but yes Nike is a favoured brand.

By year8 my eldest had moved to a big shoulder bag style. Not overly practical but she was keen to fit in. Got it in New Look.

This is very school dependent and you would be best asking on local social media and/or hanging round outside school if term hasn't finished.

You may well find that "any" backpack may not be in vogue.

Our school Id say sport brands eg Nike, UA and Adidas. I think most girls have a shoulder bag though. These aren’t usually branded, more plain high street Id say.

A lot of girls have fake LV and Michael Kors totes at my dc's secondary.

I think there are 2 camps. The ones that carry a rucksack/backpack and the ones that carry a tote. There's not much in between.

My ds has a Nike backpack. DD has a tote bag, plain black from River Island or New Look.

Yes to the tribes. We've had kankens and backpacks and theyre a bit scathing of the "handbag posse" (it's probably reciprocal!) There aren't many with hand bags at their school though.

School round the corner to us it's all thise big black bags like work bags/giant handbags and so not rucksacks for girls.

It really is school and tribe dependent.

All I know is my son chose a plain very practical khaki rucksack from the army surplus store and it lasted a week before he begged for a plain black one. Apparently he was being called a army-loving racist anti Islamophobic nazi. I thought that was a bit of a stretch but just goes to show kids will pick up on anything sometimes! He just liked the bag!

Depends on the school and the area, and the school rules. DTs are only allowed black rusksacks with a small logo. They have Vans. The school down the road is all Nike. It's a tribe thing.

My SD is 13 and started of with a black Nike backpack. Went shopping last week for September and she got a Ted Baker bag. Tkmaxx though so not ridiculously expensive and she had a gift card. But as others have said you can't go wrong with Nike.

kanken mainly here or eastpak.

Feel sorry for the year 7s with stuffed backpacks that look too heavy!

Vans is an acceptable brand according to my DD and seems very hardy too, she's been using it for the last school year and it's still going strong.

Kanken backpack in Yrs 10-11 and a North Face tote for DD now she's in 6th form.

Yy - you can't go wrong with plain black Nike/Adidas/puma. Not necessarily the height of fashion, but safe enough that they won't stand out.

If she'll have a Chrome book or similar you need to make sure it's got a padded compartment for it.

Thanks all! I’m glad I asked. Sadly the school has broken up now, so I’ll take my chances with a black Nike bag and then she can always use it at home if it’s not the ‘right’ bag! As people have said - we can’t really go wrong with Nike.

I would suggest you dont buy anything. Let her go and see what everyone else has when she gets there. My Mum used to do this with school shoes. I’d wear my old ones and see what everyone else was wearing so I didnt turn up in the old fashioned ones!