Shedding old baggage

When Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee decided to carry her Rail Budget in a cloth sling bag instead of the usual briefcase carried by her predecessors, the signals were there. The good old attaché has been sent packing, in urban India at any rate; its days as an office snob statement are numbered. Today, as more workplaces go completely electronic, the need for executives to carry copious loads of paperwork has reduced. Changes in commuting needs and fashion have also tilted the balance in favour of modern variants with interesting accents. For Samsonite, the share of briefcases is down to under 5% of sales in India, from 15% to 20% over a decade ago. Other one-time makers of leather briefcases like Mumbai’s Sahil International have stopped production.

However, Sudip Ghose, Samsonite India’s marketing director, believes the ‘briefcase’ concept has not died entirely. “You still need to carry your important documents,” he says. “The concept’s survival is based on the existence of offices, and people going to offices.” But with laptops shrinking and more people on the move with their BlackBerrys, the list of endangered species in the urban office might still get longer. Remember the safari suit, anyone?