Bag & Baggage

The well-dressed Chinese man has come a long way from the gray suit with stand-up collar and buttons down the front. Gan Tian tracks the changes.

Carrying a bag can gain you instant entry into the world of fashion, according to Yang Ziming, head designer of China's well-known menswear label Cabbeen. Cabbeen's 2011 spring/summer collection features totes, clutches, bowlers, shoppers, drawstrings, weekenders, duffle bags, messenger bags and backpacks - all jauntily carried by muscular models as they strut their stuff down the catwalk.

Bags - they are the most visible sign that the well-groomed man in China is fashionably confident and coming of age.