I’ve Fallen For Cambridge Satchel All Over Again

In Partnership with Cambridge Satchel

Cambridge Satchel’s AW26 collection introduces a longer, leaner east-west silhouette in taupe leather.

Nearly two decades after I first fell for Cambridge Satchel, its new autumn collection has caught my attention. New shapes, rich colour and unexpected texture have brought this brand back onto my style radar.

There are certain bags that immediately place you in a particular fashion era. For me, the Cambridge Satchel is one of them. I was working on magazines in London when a press release landed on my desk introducing a brand that had taken all the nostalgia of my first school bag and somehow made it better. I wanted one immediately, preferably in bright yellow.

That was 2008, and I wasn't alone. The Cambridge Satchel swiftly became the bag to have, its structured leather, buckled front, schoolbag proportions and brilliant colour making it instantly recognisable. Nearly two decades later, I thought I knew exactly what to expect from the British brand.

Then I was sent a new press release introducing its new autumn collection for 2026.

A Familiar Name, A New Direction

Hair-on leather brings a richer, more tactile finish to Cambridge Satchel’s new-season collection.

Called Risky Business, the collection doesn't abandon the codes that made the brand successful. There are still beautifully structured bags, unapologetic colourways to suit every palette and wardrobe and, of course, that unmistakable Britishness. But look beyond the familiar satchels and something much more interesting is happening.

The biggest shift comes in the shape of its two new designs, the East West Shoulder Bag and East West Tote. Longer, leaner and altogether more grown-up, they're the first Cambridge Satchel designs to combine the brand's signature calf-grain leather with smooth leather.

The timing is good. The east-west silhouette has become one of 2026's defining bag shapes, with designers stretching the traditional tote horizontally into something sleeker and less conventional. What I adore about Cambridge Satchel's interpretation is that it doesn't feel like a brand trying on somebody else's aesthetic. The structure, leather and hardware still make sense within its own design language.

Texture Changes The Mood

Houndstooth adds texture to one of Cambridge Satchel’s familiar structured shapes for autumn 2026.

Texture is important elsewhere in the collection. Hair-on leather brings something distinctly less schoolroom to proceedings, while houndstooth woven by Yorkshire mill Abraham Moon & Sons adds another strand of British manufacturing to a collection already handcrafted in England.

And then there is colour.

Cambridge Satchel has never been frightened of it, which turns out to be useful in a season when fashion has rediscovered its appetite for richness. AW26 has brought checks firmly back into focus, while burgundy continues its remarkable run and the wider collections have looked again at the colour, proportion and attitude of the 1980s. Cambridge Satchel's palette of saturated colour alongside its signature neutrals consequently feels very much at home.

The Scottish Connection

Cambridge Satchel’s Meadow Bag pairs Pine Green vegetable-tanned leather with Black Watch tartan from Lochcarron of Scotland.

Regular Hood readers may already have spotted one part of the collection in our autumn magazine. The Meadow Bag pairs vegetable-tanned leather with tartans from Lochcarron of Scotland, including Black Watch, Galbraith Modern and Chisholm Hunting Modern. I loved it when I first saw it, particularly the Pine Green and Black Watch combination, but seen within Risky Business, Meadow makes more sense. It is part of a much wider exploration of cloth, leather, texture and familiar shapes reconsidered.

The Classics Haven't Gone Anywhere

There are still plenty of old friends. The Mini, Batchel, Traveller and classic satchel shapes haven't disappeared. Nor should they. What this new collection does rather cleverly is allow those recognisable designs to sit alongside bags that might catch the eye of someone who hasn't considered Cambridge Satchel for years.

And that’s me. I don't want the same bags now that I wanted when I was working on fashion magazines in London in my twenties and thirties. My wardrobe has changed, my life has changed and, thankfully, so has my idea of what constitutes a good handbag. But I'm increasingly interested in things that are well made, useful and distinctive enough to keep rather than replace.

Cambridge Satchel has changed too.

Why I'm Looking Again

That, more than any single colour or silhouette, is what makes Risky Business interesting. There is nostalgia here, certainly, but the brand isn't relying on it. Nearly two decades after the original satchel put it on the fashion map, this collection suggests Cambridge Satchel is interested in what comes next. And so am I.