Call it By Your Name: The Bandana Print Everyone’s Obsessed With Has a History Nobody’s Talking About

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If you’ve been anywhere near fashion TikTok or Instagram this year, you’ve seen the totes: oversized, quilted, printed in that unmistakable red or navy paisley, usually with a little hand-embroidered heart or mushroom stitched somewhere on the front. That’s Call It By Your Name — the Paris-based brand founded by designer Colombe Campana in 2020, built entirely around one idea: turning American-made bandanas into bags.

The Call It By Your Name bag has become one of the most-searched accessories of the year, and it’s easy to see why. The totes are roomy, the paisley print is bold without trying too hard, and the embroidery gives each piece a handmade, personal feel. But here’s what’s interesting: the print itself didn’t start in a Paris atelier. It’s been carried, worn, and claimed by communities — including Chicano and Mexican-American communities in the US — for generations, long before it showed up on a European runway.

Where the Bandana Print Actually Comes From

The paisley bandana traces back to 18th-century trade between Europe and India, but its journey through American culture is its own story — and Chicano history is a major chapter of it.

In Mexico, the pañuelo or paliacate (a word believed to have roots in Náhuatl) has been part of everyday dress for generations, worn as a headscarf, neck covering, or handkerchief. During the Mexican Revolution, red bandanas became associated with Emiliano Zapata and the peasant fighters who wore them under the sun.

That symbolism crossed the border with Mexican-American communities and took on new meaning during the Chicano Movement of the 1960s and ’70s, when the bandana became a marker of pride and identity for a generation reclaiming its heritage. It carried through pachuco style in 1940s Los Angeles, into the lowrider culture of the ’80s and ’90s, and remains a recognizable part of Chicano style today — worn tied at the head or neck, often in red or blue, as a nod to community, resistance, and roots.

So when a fashion label “discovers” the bandana print and calls it a summer micro-trend, it’s worth knowing what that print has actually meant, and to whom, long before it hit a Paris runway. That doesn’t mean you can’t love the bags — it just means the print deserves its full story too.

Shop the Call It By Your Name Collection

If you’re sold on the trend (understandably — the craftsmanship is genuinely lovely), here’s where to start:

Call it By Your Name Sac Picnic Large Red Paisley Cotton Shoulder Bag

Call it By Your Name Maxi Cabas Quilted Bandana Tote

Call it By Your Name Bandana Bucket Bag | Bloomingdale’s Handbags

Call it By Your Name Bordeaux Bandana Card Holder

Call it By Your Name Fleur Flower Bag Charm

Call it By Your Name Fraise Strawberry Bag Charm

Call it By Your Name Champignon Mushroom Bag Charm

Looking for a Call It By Your Name Dupe?

If the price point isn’t in the cards right now, you’re not the only one searching. A genuine paliacate bandana — the same print, sourced the traditional way — runs a fraction of the cost and honestly wears the history better. Look for authentic Mexican paliacates through small artisan sellers rather than mass-market “bandana print” totes, which usually just print the pattern onto synthetic fabric rather than using real cotton bandanas.

FAQ

Is Call It By Your Name a French brand?

Yes. It was founded in Paris in 2020 by designer Colombe Campana. The bandanas themselves are sourced from one of the last remaining bandana factories in South Carolina, then embroidered by hand in Paris.

What does the bandana print mean in Chicano culture?

The bandana, or paliacate, has represented resistance, pride, and cultural identity in Mexican and Chicano communities for generations — tracing back to the Mexican Revolution and carried through the Chicano Movement, pachuco style, and lowrider culture.

Are there affordable alternatives to Call It By Your Name bags?

Yes — traditional paliacate bandanas from Mexican artisan sellers offer the same print and material at a much lower price point, and connect more directly to where the pattern actually comes from.

Shop the Full Selection

All the pieces featured in this article — scroll to explore.