Kaia Gerber Treats the Cargo Bag Trend and Her Favorite Ballet Flats to a Solo Dinner Date

The model tucked a book into her roomy tote bag for a quiet dinner in Los Angeles.

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Kaia Gerber in los angeles carrying a book within the cargo bag trend
(Image credit: Backgrid)

Kaia Gerber has a brand-new bag in her life. On Mar. 20, the model took her best spring staple pieces to dinner at the Japanese restaurant Jinpachi in Los Angeles.

Her oversized inky blue button-down shirt with wide front pockets looked like something a cool art teacher would wear to class. She layered her smock with loose navy blue trousers. Given that she owns the same pant in several other colors, I'm guessing these slacks are none other than La Ligne's pull-on Colby pants—a perennial favorite of Jennifer Lawrence as well. Her black leather Repetto ballet flats, too, are classic Kaia-core. That said, it seems the Library Science book club founder has added a functional new accessory to her rotation: a black multi-pocket tote I've never seen her carry before.

A photo of Kaia Gerber accessorizing her solo dinner date ensemble with black Repetto ballet flats and a black cargo tote bag.

Kaia Gerber accessorizes her solo dinner date ensemble with black Repetto ballet flats and a black cargo tote bag.

(Image credit: Backgrid)

Clearly, Gerber got the memo that roomy shoppers covered in exterior compartments are trending at the moment. Pocketed carryalls were all over the Spring 2025 runways at houses like Miu Miu and Chanel. But it wasn't clear just how far the cargo bag trend would go until Coach's Fall 2025 catwalk and Tory Burch's Fall 2025 presentation confirmed its ascendancy with designs that could very well replace the need for a wallet.

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Here, the 23-year-old seems to be schlepping a tiered black leather sling with slots on the sides, as well as a larger pouch the front. Tucked neatly inside the satchel's exterior cavity was a copy of Josh Duboff's novel Early Thirties, a tale of two adrift thirty-somethings searching for love in New York City.

A photo of Kaia Gerber styling a blue smock shirt with navy pants and a green scarf.

Kaia Gerber styles a blue smock shirt with navy pants and a green scarf.

(Image credit: Backgrid)

Frankly, I would kill to watch Gerber unpack the contents of her big book-filled bag. But I suppose, with a cargo tote like this one draped over her shoulder, there's no need for guessing. She's literally wearing her stuff on her sleeve.

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Hanna Lustig
Hanna Lustig
Staff Writer

Hanna Lustig is a staff writer at Marie Claire, where she gets to gab every day about the topics she holds most dear: fashion, beauty, and celebrity. Hanna’s editorial journey began with formative internships at Elle and InStyle, where she was lucky enough to work for some of the smartest women in media while she was still in college at the University of Tennessee. Hanna then accepted a digital culture reporting fellowship at Insider, where she helped carve out a new beat dedicated to covering influencers. Those experiences later served her well as a staff writer at Glamour, where she developed a knack for spinning quick turnaround celebrity news and trend reporting into juicy feature stories. Some of her greatest hits include an earnest ode to the no-pants trend, this meticulously reported feature exploring the rise of endoscopic facelifts, this snappy take on the Chanel-designed fantasy of Sofia Richie’s wedding, this tribute to WAGs past and present, and this timeline of Katie Holmes’s life and career as told through her denim collection.

Diane Keaton once hung up on Hanna during an interview, but thankfully that mishap did not derail what has otherwise been a deeply fulfilling career writing for and about women. As one of Marie Claire's resident experts on style and culture, her current coverage ranges from exploring TikTok's contrast makeup theory and the return of the boat shoe trend to interviews with costume designers for hit shows like Nobody Wants This and The Penguin. When she’s not at work, Hanna can probably be found listening to pop music, talking to her dog, and gossiping with her best friends. For more of Hanna’s perfect opinions on pop culture, you can follow her on Instagram and X.