These top-handle bags are reinventing the classic accessory
From Prada to Hermès, these sleek top-handle bags riff on ladylike 1950s silhouettes in a way that’s anything but prim
Forget the slouchy or the oversized, a mood of nostalgic elegance defines this season’s handbag offering, which sees a return to the structured, top-handle styles of the 1950s – albeit reimagined in a multitude of ways that are anything but prim.
At Prada, Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons’ angular take was described by the duo as ‘an open dialogue between past and present’, clashing retro references with a geometric silhouette inspired by the house’s triangular leitmotif (which here becomes the bag’s distinct clasp).
Refashioning a classic: the finest top-handle bags
Meanwhile at Louis Vuitton, Nicolas Ghesquière – who has long juxtaposed eras in his distinctly postmodern style – proposed the GO-14 MM bag, designed to be held in the hand and crafted from boldly quilted ‘matellage’ leather to sculptural effect.
Also quilted is Maria Grazia Chiuri’s latest riff on the classic Miss Dior, reimagined as a ladylike top-handle style adorned with the house’s signature criss-crossing ‘cannage’ motif, originally inspired by the design of woven rattan cane which first appeared in furniture in the 18th century.
At Ferragamo, Maximilian Davis’ ‘Frame’ bag – available in a multitude of colours and iterations, including this version with its graceful twisting metal handle – recalls the traditional pocketbook. Finally, at Hermès, an ever-elegant take on the top-handle style comes in the ‘Medor’ bag, adorned with a tough studded clasp.
A version of this story appeared in the December 2023 Entertaining Issue of Wallpaper*, available in print from 9 November, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today!
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Jack Moss is the Fashion Features Editor at Wallpaper*, joining the team in 2022. Having previously been the digital features editor at AnOther and digital editor at 10 and 10 Men magazines, he has also contributed to titles including i-D, Dazed, 10 Magazine, Mr Porter’s The Journal and more, while also featuring in Dazed: 32 Years Confused: The Covers, published by Rizzoli. He is particularly interested in the moments when fashion intersects with other creative disciplines – notably art and design – as well as championing a new generation of international talent and reporting from international fashion weeks. Across his career, he has interviewed the fashion industry’s leading figures, including Rick Owens, Pieter Mulier, Jonathan Anderson, Grace Wales Bonner, Christian Lacroix, Kate Moss and Manolo Blahnik.
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