Christian Dior’s revolutionary and dramatic New Look didn’t exactly cry out for a statement handbag.
The house eventually began producing leather goods under license, but things heated up in the mid-Nineties when Dior nixed its licenses and entered the category with gusto, even building factories. Dior’s then-deputy general manager, Sidney Toledano, set up the operation, and the Lady Dior, first carried by Princess Diana in 1995, was the brand’s first smash hit the following year. The bag drew on house codes, its pattern recalling the caning on a chair used by Christian Dior.
The company’s next release, the Saddle, in 2000 — John Galliano’s baby — nimbly carried the torch. Adopted by the likes of Lauryn Hill and Milla Jovovich, the bag joined the Lady Dior as a best-selling classic, reissued each season in new skins.
Surfing the “It” bag wave, a cornucopia of styles have been rolled out, from the natty D’Trick, named after the house’s longtime devotee Marlene Dietrich, to the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink Trailer bag, which resembled a chunk of car door. There was also the Detective, spotted on the arms of Madonna and Uma Thurman, the first bag to be released in the house’s tie-dyed crocodile.
No Dior newcomer has topped the successes of the Lady Dior and the Saddle in sales. But their cousins, Dior’s Gaucho and Cannage bags, both released last year, come close, according to a spokeswoman for the brand. Those two styles also garnered the most paparazzi mileage, showing up on the shoulders of Kate Moss, Cameron Diaz and Liz Hurley, among others.
In terms of a bag’s asking price, things have come a long way in a decade. While the original Lady Dior went for around $1,000 a pop, the Rebel shopper, released in September 2006, is the most expensive bag to date: a crocodile version commands around $25,000.
Going back to his roots in December, to celebrate his 10 years at Dior, Galliano revisited the Saddle, remodeling it in homage to 12 countries he visited for research. The launch marked a kind of around-the-world tour, à la Dior, in 12 bags.