Re: Iconic Bags Throughout History
from pics and muses to history and relevance + fun facts & story times!!
I love fashion history and I love luxury bags. Handbags are the perfect accessory to tie in any outfit and can oftentimes be the difference between a fit and an iconic look. Garment trends come and go, but fine jewelry and leather accessories transcend decades of fashion history.
Choosing the right bag has the power to elevate any wardrobe exponentially and creates a common element that can thread an individual’s personal style together. Stylist Allison Bornstein defines personal style through her Three-Word Method and I’ve noticed that she often looks at someone’s bag accessory to hone in on the style words. “It girl” celebs like Ashley Olsen, Jackie O, Nicole Richie, Rihanna, Jessica Simpson, etc. have all influenced purchasing bags that skew towards a blend of personal style and pop culture by showcasing their love for a style. For example, Mary Kate Olsen often wears oversized boho bags while Princess Diana wore structured small purses.
Media has also had a strong impact on fashion, with Carrie Bradshaw defining NYC bags while Lily van der Woodsen epitomized generational wealth in their respective iconic television shows. Recently, social media has taken it another step further, accelerating trend cycles and discouraging ‘slow fashion’ through obscurely naming aesthetics. With how fast everything moves and how many people want to be influential in fashion, it’s difficult to determine staying power and true staple pieces, with dozens of bags that contend to define the past few years.
I put together a list of the luxury bags that I found to be influential as I understood fashion and some of the history behind the iconic pieces that were created over half a century ago.
Contents:
1. Fendi Baguette
2. Louis Vuitton Multicolore Bag
3. Chanel Classic Flap
4. Balenciaga Motorcycle City Bag
5. Céline Luggage Tote
6. Chloé Marcie Bag
7. Dior Saddle Bag
8. Bottega Veneta Pouch
9. Prada Re-Edition Re-Nylon Bag
10. Telfar Shopping Bag
11. Jacquemus Le Chiquito Mini Bag
12. Coperni Swipe Bag
13. Gucci Jackie Bag
14. Lady Dior Bag
15. Hermès Birkin Bag
FENDI BAGUETTE
2000
Designed in 1997 by Silvia Venturini, this bag was inspired by how Parisian women carried baguettes under their arms.
Fun fact: Fendi was the first luxury brand to loan garments to Sex and the City. The SATC costume designer Patricia Field used the Fendi Baguette as the centerpiece for all her outfits, pulling vintage and modern looks that would highlight the bag. This was the best decision Fendi made, considering the bag became immortalized by Carrie Bradshaw’s iconic “It’s a Baguette!” line as she was being mugged. The bag (along with Hangisi Manolo Blahniks, of course) eventually became the honorary fifth character with how often Bradshaw wore the bag in its many variations and styles on the show.
LOUIS VUITTON MONOGRAM MULTICOLORE MURAKAMI
2003
One of Marc Jacobs’ most iconic moves as the Louis Vuitton Creative Director was to collaborate with prolific artist Takashi Murakami in 2003 on fun designs and prints featured on their leather goods, reflective of the early ‘00s with the fun florals and colorful logo aesthetics.
These bags were donned by ‘00s “It Girls” like Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, Jessica Simpson, etc., and quickly became a staple in Charlotte York’s costume wardrobe in later seasons of SATC. Though the Multicolore collection was discontinued in 2015, the recent push for vintage finds and Y2K fashion has created a resurgence and demand for old-released goods.
CHANEL CLASSIC FLAP
1955
Timeless, classy, elegant. Introduced in 1955 by Coco Chanel, this bag has been in style for decades and has easily become one of the most iconic and recognizable bags in fashion. It’s characterized by the quilted leather material and a metal woven chain strap that increased its versatility and created a distinctive look at the time.
BALENCIAGA MOTORCYCLE CITY BAG
2001
Designed by Nicolas Ghesquière in 2001 and now referred to as the ‘City Bag,’ this lightweight slouchy silhouette became the face of the brand during the rise of the edgy-boho trend of the mid-’00s. This Y2K purse—characterized by its metal buckles, studs, and leather-strung zipper—was carried casually by the pop icons of the age like Mary Kate Olsen, Nicole Richie, and Vanessa Hudgens, and is now making a comeback in newer iterations, like the Le Cagole and Le City.
CÉLINE LUGGAGE TOTE
2010
This bag continues to be the face of Céline, after coming out over a decade ago. Creative director Phoebe Philo revitalized the brand in 2010 and designed this structured and practical bag, versatile for every occasion and ubiquitous in color and size. This became one of the first bags that influencers of the time needed to have, similar to how the Prada Double Triangle bag was distributed in 2022, and slightly threw back the brand’s image in the mainstream for a few years. Still a timeless piece, just a little marred by the representation the brand earned.
CHLOÉ MARCIE BAG
2010
Another brand that perpetuated the boho trend well into the mid-’10s with the Chloé Marcie created by Hannah McGibbon in 2010. A spacious saddle silhouette, a braided top handle, delectable pebble leather, and a bag known for its equestrian craft instead of an overwhelming logo increased the brand’s value, with celebrities wearing the bag on every occasion with any outfit. So stunning and very representative of the brand’s values!!
DIOR SADDLE BAG
1999
Designed by the John Galliano in 1999, the Dior Saddle Bag is so visually fun and interesting to look at, the bag resembling a saddle and the hanging ‘D’ logo a stirrup. Very western and crafted so well in its cut and silhouette, this bag was thought to be inspired by Helmut Newton’s ‘Saddle I, Paris (1976),’ a photograph of a model posed with a horse saddle over her back. Almost every girl had carried this bag under her arm for years in varying colors and hardware, only recently adapting the crossbody to the bag. The resurgence of such a classic old piece now correlates with the rise of social media influencers and seemingly also the return of the SATC sequel, ‘And Just Like That,’ seeing as this was a piece Carrie Bradshaw carried during the original series.
BOTTEGA VENETA POUCH
2018
Daniel Lee created the most inclusive leather bag on the market, with each Bottega Veneta Pouch coming in so many colors, shapes, sizes, leathers, styles, and textures, to boast maximal minimalism through its very intricate leatherwork and carry versatility. This bag elevates every other outfit tenfold and is approachable to any age or gender demographic, especially seeing as the bag can be carried as a clutch, shoulder bag, or crossbody. The brand is known for their leatherwork so this was insane to see how much play they could fit into their pouch collection.
PRADA RE-EDITION RE-NYLON BAG
2005
Designer Miuccia Prada was inspired by ‘Pocono Nylon,’ a specific material used in the late ‘80s by the Italian military to construct tents and parachutes because of its durability and longevity. Prada wanted to juxtapose maximal opulence in the time with sustainability and strength in her innovation through her nylon backpack, and now, it’s come back during the ‘20s almost as a counter to fast fashion trends that plague modern fashion. With the rise of Y2K trends in the early ‘20s, the nylon has become a reinvented staple in the brand’s core identity to be a little more versatile, modern, and chic in their 2-in-1 shoulder/crossbody bag.
TELFAR SHOPPING BAG
2014
Founded by Telfar Clemens, a Liberian-American designer, this brand disrupted and restructured the notion of exclusivity in luxury fashion by introducing its signature Shopping in 2014, with each size priced between $150 to $257 and a unique live retail model. Prices start at 50% off and depending on popularity in customer demand, the price goes up accordingly until the product either caps out or sells out.
JACQUEMUS LE CHIQUITO
2017
Tiny handbags made the biggest statement, especially in this bag named aptly after the Spanish word for ‘tiny’ in this bag that debuted in Simon Porte’s SS18 Jacquemus show. Quickly became a staple in every fashion icon’s closet and increased their brand recognition through their uniquely shaped bag.
To me, this bag became so indicative of the times in which barely any items fit in the bag, specifically never a phone. A glorified wallet on a chain without the compartments to organize the ID cards from credit cards. But after a few weeks of intentionally paying attention to where my phone was, I realized I opted to keep my phone in my pocket or hand when I was out and about, despite having ample space in my purse. But, we’ve reached a point where we have a new relationship with technology, our phones are our babies and are literally an extension of ourselves.
COPERNI GLASS SWIPE
2022
Coperni has been notorious in bringing innovation to fashion through their nonconventional design influences to create conversation in the industry. Especially after the Bella Hadid Coperni Spray-On Dress that used bio-polymer technology to make a solid gown from the aerosol spray. This style made its debut during the FW19 show in embellished denim and leather materials but featured a bag made of 1% glass and 99% Aerogel1 this year—the Air Swipe Bag. The glass version of the bag is such a main attraction in fashion, bringing an ethereal, futuristic vibe to any look. Encapsulates the ‘20s very well.
GUCCI JACKIE
1961
Originally called the ‘50s Constance, this bag was renamed after ‘It Girl’ and First Lady Jackie Kennedy after she was often paparazzied wearing one of her 6 versions of this purse. This half-moon hobo with a piston closure was an absolutely revolutionary piece in ‘70s fashion and was hyped up until Jackie died in 1994. This bag represented playful elegance at a time when fashion was very consuming and complicated and brought about new contemporary energy to the era.
The bag was revived by new creative director, Tom Ford, in 1999 to become more defined and restructured and reintroduced in 2019 by Alessandro Michele and marketed as a unisex accessory.
LADY DIOR
1995
Aside from her Gucci Bamboo Tote, Diana was known to love this Lady Dior. In 1994, the First Lady of France Bernadette Chirac requested Dior’s creative director Gianfranco Ferré to create a custom bag for the Princess as a gift. Originally named the Chou Chou, this was a black quilted leather bag inspired by the Napolean III upholstery, arched handles adorned in gold hardware, and a no-slouch structure analogous to a princess’ posture. Princess Diana wore this bag everywhere and over the past 30 years, the Lady Dior has been reimagined so many times, offering varying sizes, leather finishes, and hardware options. Literally timeless and I firmly believe that this bag can fit anyone’s style aesthetic.
HERMÈS BIRKIN
1984
Storytime!!
Jane Birkin was a French English actor who was known to carry her signature accessory, a Portugese straw basket, everywhere. Like airplanes, premieres, clubs, carpets, grocery stores, and more everywhere. And two days before she was supposed to fly to London, her husband Jacques Doillon had intentionally run it over and crushed the integrity of her beloved bag and had to carry some random, dysfunctional bag abroad.
While she was boarding her flight, the contents of her bag spilled onto the man sitting next to her, and he asked her why she didn’t carry a bag with pockets. Jane responded “The day Hermès makes one with pockets I will have that,” and to her surprise, the man introduced himself as the Hermès exec and creative director, Jean-Louis Dumas. This was in the early ‘80s so people weren’t often exposed to more than just the face of a brand, let alone the man behind Hermès. Throughout the flight, the two brainstormed a bag that would be bigger than the Kelly and sketched a mock-up on a sickness bag that met Jane Birkin’s needs.
She went on to trade her name for this glorified tote bag and has now become one of the most famous faces to back a handbag. Jane Birkin has appeared in several campaigns, even walking the Hermès RTW SS00 Margiela runway, and redirected her yearly royalties from the bag to charities of her choice. Insane!!
A bag of all bags!! Though I personally don’t find that this bag would fit my style, I love and appreciate the history behind the bag. I also especially love when people wear out their bags, the way Jane Birkin intended, instead of obsessively maintaining every square centimeter of the (very expensive) bag. This bag is known to be one of the best investment pieces, with a resale value exceeding retail exponentially because of how exclusive the bag is. Co-designed by Jean-Louis Dumas and Jane Birkin on a flight to London, this practical luxury piece is famous for its varying hardware and leather variations. Easily the most expensive bag on this list with prices ranging between $25,000-30,000 retail or reselling for as much as $2 million….
📑 The History of the “It Bag’—and Which One to Bet on Next, Nancy MacDonell
An introductory assessment of the next iconic bag in the age of social media and how luxury brands are no longer the only players in the game
A quick outline of criteria for identifying the defining bag to supersede the decade: practicality, recognizability, affordability, and history
📑 How Jane’s Birkin Bag Idea Took Off, Luke Leitch
2012 Jane Birkin interview on the story behind creating the Hermès Birkin Bag
📺 Rory is Gifted an Hermès Birkin, Gilmore Girls
📑 Gucci and Goliath, Bryan Burrough
How ‘smart’ businessmen made so many mistakes out of arrogance and missed opportunities and why the LVMH empire doesn’t own Gucci today
📚 Art of the Handbag: Crazy Beautiful Bags, Clare Anthony
A wildly informative book on the history behind handbags and purses, the art and design inspirations, the creative directors and fashion houses, and ultimately, why we find bags so fascinating