A New York icon is making a comeback: the Proenza Schouler PS1 returned to the runway at the brand’s New York Fashion Week show on Thursday, with a fresh redesign by creative director Rachel Scott, in collaboration with Reed Krakoff, the former creative director of Coach.
The new iteration of the bag, called the PS1 Walker, was first released in 2008 by Proenza founders Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez. This version borrows from the original’s practical, utilitarian design with some modern updates. Scott has simplified the bag’s facade, reducing the layers of the front flaps and stitching while keeping the shape familiar. The classic silver latch, flanked by two buckle straps, remains intact, as well as its messenger design. This time, the PS1 is made in a softer, slouchier leather and will come in three sizes: the mini (sold for $1,650), the medium ($2,090), and the large ($2,590).
Scott, who also designs her brand Diotima, says that plans to relaunch the PS1 were in motion almost as soon as she took on the job at Proenza last year, after it was announced that McCollough and Hernandez were departing their label, and New York, for co-creative director jobs at Loewe.
“With bags, it’s not something you introduce every season. You want to think about it for a longer period of time. There needed to be a level of practicality to it. I think that fashion really needs to serve the woman and her life,” says Scott. “An It-bag can be extremely luxurious, but very practical at the same time.”
Colors range from classic black, white and tan to a chrome yellow and mellow blue. The bag also comes in several shades of suede. As ever, it is made entirely in Italy.
“I’ve always loved it, the original PS1,” says Krakoff. “It’s been something that has always been inspiring to so many people. So it was a great opportunity to rethink it for the next chapter. It’s a little less casual, a little more refined, but it still has that kind of cool downtown feel with an uptown polish.”
Since Scott soft-launched last September with a collection she consulted on with the design studio, she has released two full collections for Proenza. Her first hit stores in August. In the leather goods category, the focus had been on footwear, while the bag strategy came into focus. CEO Shira Suveyke Snyder says that when she took the job in 2024, one of her first moves was to wind down wholesale buys for the brand’s handbags, while the original PS1 dwindled in stock both online and in Proenza stores. Even on The RealReal, the PS1 is in short supply. In honor of the re-edition, the brand is releasing around five of the original bags to customers, which also appeared on the runway in New York.
Suveyke Snyder says it was important for the brand to “redefine our language in handbags”. But even without a big emphasis on bags, the leather goods category accounts for about a third of sales, something that the CEO thinks could be much more significant as the category develops under Scott. Suveyke Snyder says she sees Proenza’s handbags — in addition to the PS1, the brand also showed an evening clutch as part of the new collection — filling a space left vacant when other luxury brands raised prices. The price point of the new bags, she says, is in line with what customers would have expected in years past (forget greedflation).
