The latest, and hopefully last, Indiana Jones film is released this month. It isn’t a spoiler to say that it probably won’t end up occupying the same cultural territory as Raiders of the Lost Ark, but then again what could? Still, it isn’t a bad film. It contains some digital de-ageing that’s almost convincing, a big twist at the end that feels specifically designed to make the crankiest corners of the internet choke to death on its popcorn and – most importantly – Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character carries a bag around for some of the film.
No, really, that’s important. When the dust has settled on the Indiana Jones series, everyone will remember the key pieces of its iconography. When future generations come to watch Indiana Jones, they will instantly picture Jones’s hat and whip, and also the bag that Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character carries around for some of the last film.
Why? Is it because the bag plays an important role in the film? Not really. Is it because it’s an especially memorable bag? No. I’ve seen the film and didn’t even realise that she had a bag until I went back and did a Google Image search for it. But the bag is still very important, because otherwise nobody would have bothered to make an officially licensed partial replica of it and sell it on the internet for several thousand dollars.
But they have, so here we are. It has been announced that Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny costume designer Joanna Johnston has collaborated with London-based luxury leather goods maker Métier to make a bunch of bags and wallets and playing card holders inspired by the film. These are statement pieces, and that statement is ‘I am slightly too invested in the fourth-best Indiana Jones film, and also I have more money than I really know what to do with.’
Which isn’t to say that the resulting pieces aren’t nice. Of course they’re nice. They’re beautiful. One of them is a suede duffle bag that’s roomy and practical and very well made. But it costs $4,650, which is a lot of money to invest in something designed to commemorate the sequel to a film where Indiana Jones gets blasted across a portion of the American wilderness inside a fridge.
This is, of course, just the latest collaboration between the worlds of fashion and entertainment. The final series of Game of Thrones, for example, caused an enormous rush of brands desperate to get in on the action, with Urban Decay bringing out a special Game of Thrones make-up set and menswear brand John Varvatos bringing out a $2,698 leather jacket designed to make you look like someone who lived in a time before the invention of laundry detergent. Jimmy Choo made shoes to commemorate the live-action Cinderella remake. Mr Porter sold a range of menswear based on Kingsman. Start to look for it and you’ll see it everywhere.
In a way, it’s quite sweet. When you’re a child, it’s easy to show the world that you like a film, because all you have to do is wait until Halloween and then buy a hellish padded superhero muscle suit to demonstrate your abiding love for, say, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. But it gets harder as you age. You can’t go to work dressed up as Darth Vader, because you are now a grownup and as such experience a suitable amount of shame when it comes to being enthusiastic about things.
True, there are plenty of ways in which one’s fandom can be celebrated indoors. You can buy all sorts of expensive merchandise – limited edition action figures and elaborate Lego sets, maybe even props from the actual movies – and fill your home with them, in the process creating a shrine to both the object of your enthusiasm and your own harrowing lack of impulse control.
But perhaps this represents a new and better way. These bags are a way for people to quietly and discreetly demonstrate their love for Indiana Jones. Take the duffle bag out for a weekend away, and most people will simply think you have a fondness for well-made but pricey luggage. However, those who know will know. Maybe one day a stranger will tap you on the shoulder and whisper “Excuse me, isn’t that the bag inspired by the bag that Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character wore in some of the fourth-best Indiana Jones movie? I’d recognise that anywhere,” into your ear and, instantly, you will have made a friend for life.
