Iconic bags – Lady Dior

The history of Lady Dior bag starts in September 1995 when France’s First Lady, Bernadette Chirac, gave the Princess of Wales Diana the newest handbag from Christian Dior collection. Diana immediately fell in love with the bag and ordered more colors and styles. Being the most photographed person in the world, Diana had a big influence on fashion and her style was commented everywhere. New bag was spotted in November 1995 during Diana’s visit to children’s home in Birmingham and later when she was stepping off the aeroplane during her visit in Argentina. As a consequence to Diana’s love for that bag Dior company made a decision to re-name that piece of art in honor of Lady Di.

The bag became one of Dior’s most recognizable pieces. Lady Dior was obviously designed by Dior’s most famous designer John Galliano. The stitched leather and cannage pattern are inspired by the Napoleon III chairs used in Mr Dior first ever fashion show in 1947. Each Lady Dior bag takes eight hours to make and requires the skills of seven craftsmen. Whether in quilted lambskin or crocodile or two-tone python, it requires 130 pieces of leather for it’s production and they have to be dyed, sanded down and stitched together by hand. Each piece is also cut manually. The signature D.I.O.R letters that hang on a pendant, available in silver or gold metal, are galvanised in different baths to give them shine.

The Lady Dior bag is undeniably one of the most famous and wanted pieces of accessory in the world. Worn by many celebrities and VIPs Dior bag is a significant part of fashion history and a statement of success, wealth and sophisticated taste. A succession of models and actresses were the face of the bag, beginning with Carla Bruni in 1996, then Diane Kruger, Monica Bellucci and now Marion Cotillard.