A few days after the return of the 'J'adore Dior' T-shirt, another throwback favourite has made its way back on to the Paris Fashion Week runway. At Chloé's autumn/winter 2025 show today, Chemena Kamali brought back the ultimate Noughties It-bag: the Paddington. The padlock style introduced during Phoebe Philo's tenure has become definitive of that era in fashion, and was swung through the decade by everyone from Coleen Rooney to Mischa Barton. Now, it's back and the return is timely.
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Bringing back the Paddington — a tote style bag with top handles and primary detail of a padlock closure — is a wise move. Despite being an It-bag that waned in popularity as fashion moved on from the boho style of the Noughties, it has gained recent popularity on resale sites as Kamali's Chloè era has firmly put the nostalgic aesthetic on the fashion map. Depop reports a 1,137% rise in searches for the bag since June, while LTK has seen a spike of 3,000%. Why would a brand let the secondhand market rise without getting in on the action?
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While the bag was pretty much like-for-like for the original on the catwalk today, the approach to brandishing it was markedly different. In the Noughties, the only way to carry it was in the crook of your arm with the style arriving at your destination before you. This time, the directive was quieter and stealthier — dangling from the hand or tucked up in a firm clutch bag.
One thing remains certain though: the Paddington is an It-bag for an It-girl. Fashion favourite Tish Weinstock was among those who carried it down the catwalk. 'It’s felt very nostalgic to carry a bag that I used to own a terrible copy of as a tweenager,' Weinstock tells ELLE UK post-show. Her favourite detail? 'I like how the slouchy nature lends a bohemian quality to the bag, which is then countered but the harsher, more modern hardware,' she says. 'So it’s super feminine but then has that cool-girl edge.'
While there might be a short while to wait before it arrives in Chloè boutiques next autumn, there's no harm in doing the due diligence of 'researching' the style on sites now.
Chloe 2000s Chloe Paddington Handbag
Chloe Paddington leather handbag
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