THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 24, 1995 TAG: 9502240055
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E13 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Teenology
SOURCE: BY LORI A. DENNEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
HENRII JURUN wouldn't dream of going anywhere without her ``purse,'' a miniature green backpack/book bag that the Green Run High School sophomore keeps stocked with pencils, keys and other items she considers necessary to survival.
``I have a big one for my books,'' said Henrii, 15. ``This one is for everything else, and I carry it with me everywhere.''
Bags once deemed necessary to lighten heavy loads are now fashionable inside and outside of the classroom.
``It's not a book bag anymore. It's a fashion accessory,'' said Brenda Willis, manager of Up Against The Wall, clothing stores in Lynnhaven and Military Circle malls that caters to the younger set. ``Of course, the funkier, the better.''
Teens and college students may have started it, but now the attraction to the newer style of bags isn't limited to students.
After 12-year-old Keyana Johnson got her first small bag at the beginning of the school year, her mother, Andrea Johnson, saw the utilitarian shoulder straps and bought a black one for herself and her 21-year-old daughter, Kechia.
``Every woman in my house has one,'' said Andrea Johnson, the 45-year-old grandmother of one. ``We all use them as purses, and they work great. When you go out, you can put them on your back and your hands are free. Or, you can wear it on one shoulder, both shoulders, or carry it.''
On school days, Keyana Johnson, a Landstown Middle School sixth-grader, carries the backpack ``purse'' and a matching, bigger backpack for her books.
Most every store carries some type of bag. Typically the bags have a strap with a zippered middle, so one strap can be used for one shoulder or both straps can be used as a backpack. Most bags also have a carrying handle.
Johnson and her daughters got their bags from Afterthoughts Boutique, an accessory store.
Pembroke Mall's Afterthoughts store manager, Gwen Lee, estimates that the store sells between 50 and 60 ``mini backpacks'' during a good week. The cost ranges from $12 to $20 for non-brand-name packs.
Bags are made of almost every material imaginable - patent leather, suede, canvas, plastic and even some rubber. Colors range from hot pink to metallic silver to earthy green to black.
With brand name bags, like Jansport, the price is higher, anywhere from $25 on up.
There are different bags for different customers. For example, 17th Street Surf Shop stocks about 12 different styles of bags geared specifically toward surfers, with brand names such as Quik Silver and Rip Curl.
Some of the bags are wet/dry ones that allow surfers to keep wet articles in one side and dry articles in another These bags, depending on the size, name brand and function, range from $30 to $50.
``A lot of people that shop in this industry won't settle for anything that doesn't have these (brand) names on it, regardless of the cost,'' said 17th Street Surf Shop's manager Salina Fisher who carries her own medium-sized backpack for her bottled water and portable CD player.
To Keyana Johnson and her mother, brand name isn't as important as the bag itself.
``I won't leave home without it,'' admitted Keyana. ILLUSTRATION: DAVID B. HOLLINGSWORTH/Staff
Keyana Johnson, a Landstown Middle School sixth-grader, won't leave
home without her backpack.
by CNB