When Miuccia Prada introduced her now-famous nylon backpack in 1984, the gesture was, if not confrontational, then certainly contrarian. Prada’s collections began to fold nylon into the broader wardrobe, and the backpack settled into the house’s vocabulary. Prada’s original design was effortlessly pared back: a soft, collapsible body secured with a drawstring, covered by a flap, and worn high and close to the back. That sense of practical purpose was integral to Prada’s original vision, which is why the backpack’s reappearance feels less like nostalgia than a continuation of intent. Clockwise from top left: KEYSTONE-FRANCE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images; Galen Rowell/Corbis via Getty Images; Courtesy of Prada; Moment/Getty Images.