Handbags – ICON ICON

6 January 20206 January 2020

Fendi’s Peekaboo, The Baguette and The Dolce Vita – Spring/Summer 2020

A first collection without Karl Lagerfeld that promises happy times for the Fendi house – even just by having a look at the new Baguette and Peekaboo!

“Reality. I always start from reality. Given that I am a woman, I want to give real clothes. That is why I don’t call this pret-a-porter but vrai-a-porter. I think that the greatest homage is to see your clothes on people. That’s why I wanted to start by simple things, like emotions, for example: the feeling of a sunny day, when you feel really free, ready to go out and when you meet people and you are an optimist towards life”. The vision of Silvia Venturini Fendi for Spring/Summer 2020 breathes everything that is Dolce Vita. Exquisite pieces, a concept of Fun Fur worked in a light and delicious streak – Fendi distills a soft and aristocratic attitude.

In this spirit, the iconic Peekabo bag is cut on green raffia and scratched with glitter. Concerning the Baguette, the first it-bag of the modern era, it is thought up in a combination of pearls – in tones inspired by the sunset of Southern Italy. But don’t be fooled – the women of Fendi Spring/Summer 2020 are not candy sweets.

They have style, a lot, a true attitude. “I wanted to have fun making small Hawaiian shirts in shearling, retro bathrobes with thermobonded mink on the Lycra of Bikinis, power dressing tailored vests in cushioned sponge” says Silvia Venturini Fendi. The result? An endless amount of desirable silhouettes! Glam and cool, simple and most of all decluttered of a certain austerity.

6 January 20206 January 2020

Prada And Adidas – A Meeting Of Icons

When Prada and Adidas collaborate around an exclusive capsule collection, it is to better revisit two of their icons.

The Bowling bag from Prada. The Superstar from Adidas. The capsule collection of two of the most innovative houses from the past decade promises to please a number of aficionados. It must be said that the concept has a lot to offer – not two separate pieces but truly two pieces that are imagined and sold together.

The Prada Bowling bag and the Adidas Superstore cannot be bought separately, the pack constitutes a limited and numbered edition of only 700 pieces. Here, the Prada name engraves itself on the legendary Superstar from Adidas while the iconic Bowling bag of the 2000s is declined in a broken white – the iconic shade of the Superstar!

All that’s left to do is wait until December 4th to try to acquire the result of a much awaited collaboration. When the most avant-garde house of elegance meets with the brand that was able to inject youth into the daily silhouette – it creates something truly desirable!

6 January 20206 January 2020

The Prada Bowling Bag – Return Of An Icon

The graceful return of a key piece from the “Sincere Chic” wardrobe of Prada – seen for the first time in 1999.

The anti-conformist Miuccia Prada has often created some of the most desirable items in fashion from the past thirty years. After the return of the Pocono, the Italian maison surprised the entire world with its 2020 Resort show through its latest remake to date – the iconic Bowling bag.

September 1999, Prada is a figure of a new luxury vocabulary: the “jolie laide”, a silhouette that is uninhibited and earnestly desirable, finding its culmination point in the Spring/Summer 2000 Collection. Baptised “Sincere Chic”, the show showcases the codes that have now become iconic for Prada. As it’s star – the unexpected and curved Bowling Bag.

It is an immediate success. The Prada store have to put in place waiting lists to manage the high demand for the Bowling Bag. Now reedited for it’s 20th birthday, the it-bag has also been reimagined.

In a color-block version that is more pop – the Bowling Bag preserved its silky-effect leather – a true savoir-faire of the Prada maison. A new vision of the icon, refined and extremely cool!

11 January 2018

The Accordion Bag by Chanel

The Accordion Bag by Chanel: the elegance of the quilted 2.55 meets the gussets of the traditional instrument from Hamburg. Chanel’s Métiers d’Art runway took place in the same German port town where Karl Otto Lagerfeld was born. More than six decades later, he’s making a triumphant return. The creative director is celebrating the greatest era in his native city, composed like an odyssey. By occupying the Elbphilharmonie for a runway, what with its surreal and dreamy architecture, Karl Lagerfeld is articulating the junction between various times and spaces.

The Chanel Métiers d’Art collection presented looks like characters, sometimes from the past, sometimes from the present, but always here and now. The highly symbolic navy motifs of the Hamburg of yesteryear, filled with sailors most notably, is released in the purest Chanel vein here – with all the exceptional crafts of France. Chanel’s fashion prowess is today yielding a bag as funny as it is fascinating: the Accordion bag, with two gold chained straps. The traditional local instrument meets the distinct and legendary 2.55 quilted motif, making for something that’s pure and simple chic.

Amidst a philharmonic concert, these workshops once more demonstrated their ability to integrate themselves into the present day under the auspices of Chanel. The moment oscillated deftly between a respect for tradition and a desire for lightness and mischief. This was the perfect occasion to introduce the Accordion bag, that incarnates the animated nature of Hamburg in the 60s. It’s as improbable as it is desirable!

19 December 2017

Dior Lady Art, the Second Collection

Dior introduced the Lady Art project in November 2016 at Art Basel Miami. This iconic bag, first bequeathed to Princess Diana on a visit to Paris, would be revisited by a number of renowned artists. The fine arts have long been at the heart of Dior’s creations – Monsieur Dior counted a number of friends in his inner circle that were some of the most influential in their time. Names like Max Ernst, Alexander Calder, Alberto Giacometti, and Pablo Picasso were often shown off in Christian Dior’s gallery. This is the heritage that Maria Grazia Chiuri is working with today; you may recall her Spring/Summer 2018 collection that put a spotlight on artist Niki de Saint Phalle.

This time, for Dior Lady Art #2, the brand is teaming up with 10 contemporary artists from across the world, most notably from the UK and the U.S. These artists are big figures in contemporary art, such as Friedrich Kunath, Jamilla Okubo, and Spencer Sweeney. The latter is transforming the Lady Dior into a kaleidoscopic piece through his favorite material, silver mirror fragments. After more than 60 attempts, the Seoul-based artist finally arrived at a dazzling and captivating new Lady Dior. This exuberance suits the magnanimity of the bag’s lines quite well.

Another notable bag is Davis Wiseman, who surprises with perforated flowers on a metallic calfskin material. “My sculptures in ceramic, bronze, argyle, always start with a drawing. I then imagine how different elements, often inspired by nature, come together. I followed the same process for this bag. I first imagined a floral motif that working with perforated leather allowed me to create.” Finally, perhaps the most hypnotic piece is Friedrich Kunath’s – a rainbow with the colors of a Hollywood sunset. “I was born in East Germany and I work in Los Angeles. I like to explore the array of emotions between sadness and optimism. Here I wanted to evoke the graphicness of a beach towel on Venice Beach with the idea of a melancholic Parisian winter day. The rainbow is a nod to my paintings.” This yields a calfskin Lady Dior printed in relief with clouds of lambskin. These exceptional pieces are available now.

31 October 2017

Tod’s Faubourg Saint-Honoré Pop Up Store in Honor of the Sella Bag

The Sella by Tod’s marvelously incarnates the philosophy, DNA, and aesthetic so adored and defended by Diego Della Valle’s brand; with measured distinction but no complexes. Its graphic lines and minimalism is made for an active and sporty woman. And the Sella has a secret: its multiple changing looks. The new version of the Sella is imagined as the key element for an outfit. In mini, petite, or large sizes, this Tod’s piece is available in a variety of colors and features smooth leather with a double handle, ring charms and keychains, a zipper, varnished leather edges, a removable strap, and patch pockets. The Sella is the fruit of a chic, timeless breed of craftsmanship that’s 100% made in Italy.

On October 2, Tod’s inaugurated its new pop up store dedicated to the bag – in its Faubourg Saint-Honoré boutique in Paris, the must-have of the season got a worthy setup indeed. This leather bag is inspired by production techniques of master saddlers; it’s thus only natural to find a mounting dynamic here. Galloping horses, conveyors of luxury and liberty, denote the stylistic ardor of the Tod’s Sella bag. In colorful pony veal or quilted with a tricolor graphic, the Sella’s distinctive lines open a new chapter in the timeless elegance that Tod’s has built. To incarnate the chic and class of the Sella, the brand invited muses and celebrities for an exclusive cocktail mixer. Naomi Campbell, Isabelle Adjani, Zanita Whittington, Chriselle Lim, Danielle Bernestein, Derek Blasberg, Giovanna Battaglia, and Inès de la Fressange were all present, with a Sella in hand!

10 August 2017

The Louis Vuitton’s Trunk

Big travelers knew that Louis Vuitton had the power to create a unique object to accompany them on their adventures. In 1905, the brand created a trunk-bed for Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza’s expedition into the Congo; in 1962, it was a teacase for the Maharajah of Baroda, while in 1939, a trunk-desk was made for King Farouk of Egypt. Vuitton’s trunks incarnate a unique style with neutral colors, sophisticated minimalism, and natural materials. They are evocative and filled with emotions. The greatest names in fashion still collaborate with the brand to reinvent this timeless trunk.

This year it’s American photographer Cindy Sherman’s turn to celebrate the monogram and to revisit the original trunk. This limited edition of only 25 copies includes a luxurious vanity case, a messenger bag for cameras, and 31 drawers to slip her work accessories into: wigs, fake eyes, fake teeth, and fake nails. She also took inspiration from the patchwork of hotel stickers on vintage Louis Vuitton trunks that the founder collected. Hundreds of thousands of trunks have been created by the Louis Vuitton workshops since a century and a half ago, and they can be found in the four corners of the Earth. Some of them are tucked away in attics, others have found their way into museums, and some are still on the road. The iconic Vuitton trunk is reinvented each and every day, allowing for experiences imbued with imagination and emotion alike.

5 July 2017

Dover Street Market: On-Point and Non-Conformist Fashion

Opened in London in 2004, the Dover Street Market surprised shoppers right off the bat with its selection of unpretentious luxury pieces mixed with the work of a few unknown designers. “In the beginning, we approached four people: Hedi [Slimane], Raf [Simons], Alber [Elbaz], and Azzedine [Alaïa],” recalls Adrian Joffe. The four all accepted to create pieces exclusively for the store’s launch. Ever since, Dover Street Market has established itself as the natural home of avant-garde, experimentation, but first and foremost an on-point selection of collections from brands that need no introduction. A temple of fashion that’s both liberated and super-specialized, Dover Street Market is also exceptional in that it presents and composes different universes in a precise and different way. Under the auspices of Rei Kawakubo, designer for Comme des Garçons and emblematic queen of avant-garde, the Dover Street Market is designed like an upscale space that’s overflowing with creativity. Conceptualized by the idea of ‘beautiful chaos’, the store never ceases to attract professionals and fans alike.

With her husband Adrian Joffe, Rei Kawakubo imagined Dover Street Market like a store-cum-art gallery. For the first time, a store took into consideration ideas of environmental conservation, which was rarely done before. It also gave sneakers and other accessories a new status as works of art by presenting them like never before. Dover Street Market would soon become a privileged shopping experience – an antidote to conformism and shopping mall culture. Their approach is more than spontaneous, intuitive, and creative. “In Japan, Burberry recently opened a flagship store for millions of dollars,” Rei Kawakubo pointed out in 2004. “It would be the antithesis of that. Luckily we don’t have a lot of money, so we can’t go overboard. We have to find an idea that doesn’t cost too much.” This deliberately anti-luxury manifesto would soon spread from Tokyo to New York.

Dover Street Market refuses to answer to the demands of industrialized fashion, forced to forget the past, pulled towards novelty. That’s why, in 2014, Prada introduced their famous 2008 collection exclusively for Dover Street Market. In 2016, the store got a makeover. With five stories and 3,000 m2 of Burberry’s old headquarters – the very same inaugurated by Thomas Burberry in 1912 – luxury brands and young labels come together here. Gosha Rubchinskiy and Dior, Loewe and Vetements, Gucci and Jacquemus, these universes all collide into dialogue.

14 June 2017

The Chiara Loves Tod’s Capsule Collection

This isn’t Tod’s first time around the block. In 2013, Diego Della Valle’s brand collaborated with Italian blogger Chiara Ferragni on a version of the D-Bag by Tod’s. The idea: give four different perspectives from the same person to illustrate how Tod’s style can satisfy everyone, and how the iconic handbag is ideal for any occasion. This year, the collaboration is going even further as Chiara Ferragni is now releasing a capsule collection under the brand’s auspices.

For summer 2017, the famous blogger with 10 million Instagram followers imagined her own version of the legendary Tod’s Double T moccasins as well as the Tod’s Gommino bag. TheBlondeSalad made nude her favorite shade, making this summer’s color a bit chicer. Even better, Chiara Ferragni adopted two legends in Tod’s leathermaking and customized them with a few modern details that fit with her own style. The Gommino bag and the very special Double T Gommino can be discovered in July in a selection of boutiques and in the brand’s online store.

Discover Tod’s Italian lifestyle: here and here

13 June 2017

The Auction of the Year: the Birkin Himalaya Niloticus Crocodile Diamond

While it may seem to us the most classic of classics today, it wasn’t until 1984 that Hermès first imagined the Birkin bag. It all started on a London-Paris flight. Jane Birkin tells: “My Hermès agenda was so full that everything fell out. He told me it would be better to put my personal items in closed pockets. I told him ‘If Hermès put pockets on…’. He replied ‘I’m Mr. Hermès and I’m going to put pockets on for you.’” This is how one of the most beautiful collaborations in fashion history began; and it was Jane herself who drew the lines for it. One month later, Jean-Louis Dumas would send the piece and ask if he could name it after her.

When a scandal surrounding the use of exotic hides in the fashion industry erupted in 2015, Jane Birkin demanded that her name no longer be associated with the bag. By denouncing “cruel slaughter practices” for animals, Birkin convinced Hermès to take the necessary precautions to change the status quo, and the two parties were able to reconcile. It now seems only natural that this Birkin bag that went for auction at Christie’s in Hong Kong on May 31 was much more than just an exceptional piece.

This style is very seldom produced – only two copies are released every year. Today, Hermès is even talking about definitively stopping production, “which partially explains its rise in popularity this season,” declared Matthew Rubinger, head of the international bags and accessories department at Christie’s. The Himalaya Niloticus Crocodile Diamond Birkin 30 bag is made of crocodile leather. Encrusted with diamonds, its finishings are made of gold. This is one of the most coveted luxury bags in the world, according to Christie’s, and it went for the tidy sum of 338,000 Euros to an anonymous bidder.