Glitter bug: New York celebrates Judith Leiber's way with crystals

The bejeweled handbag designer Judith Leiber is synonymous with American glitz and glamour. Although her eponymous accessory label dates back to 1963, Leiber’s whimsical and intricately adorned bags still continue to be a fixture at glamorous evening events – even long after she created her final design in 2004.
The Hungarian-born designer’s legacy is currently in the spotlight, along with one hundred of her glittering creations, at the Museum of Art and Design in New York (MAD). The exhibition, ‘Judith Leiber: Crafting a New York Story’, also features wax models, letters, photographs and additional ephemera that charts the rise of the visionary, from her beginnings as a patternmaker and Holocaust survivor to the celebrated female entrepreneur she is remembered as today.
Grouse minaudière with rhinestones, 1980. Courtesy of the Leiber Collection
While Leiber is best known for her sparkling Swarovski crystal-encrusted pieces, the exhibition also highlights exquisitely crafted leather and textile bags, which showcase a different side of her craftsmanship abilities. Up close, visitors will also be able to spot art deco and art-inspired references in the bags’ hardware and design. Whether it’s a Sonia Delaunay-inspired envelope clutch in different skins from 1990, or her more fantastical minaudières taking the shape of a bunch of asparagus, an aubergine or an Emperor penguin, this detailed presentation promises to illuminate even Leiber’s most ardent fans.
‘Judith Leiber’s combination of craftsmanship and innovation sets her work apart from other handbag designers in both the United States and Europe during the twentieth century, a legacy that continues,’ says the exhibition’s curator Samantha De Tillio. ‘But beyond the handbags, her personal story speaks to so many. She was an immigrant who created a flourishing business – a story that has political and social relevance, especially today.’
Crystal-encrusted minaudière after Faith Ringgold’s Street Story Quilt, 1987. Courtesy of the Leiber Collection
Installation view of ‘Judith Leiber: Crafting a New York Story’
Sonia Delaunay–inspired multi-skin envelope, 1990. Courtesy of the Leiber Collection
Left, Asparagus minaudière with crystals, 1996. Right, Watermelon minaudière with rhinestones, 1991. Courtesy of the Leiber Collection
INFORMATION
‘Judith Leiber: Crafting a New York Story’ is on view until 6 August. For more information, visit the MAD museum website
ADDRESS
The Museum of Arts and Design
Jerome and Simona Chazen Building
2 Columbus Circle
New York NY 10019
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Pei-Ru Keh is a former US Editor at Wallpaper*. Born and raised in Singapore, she has been a New Yorker since 2013. Pei-Ru held various titles at Wallpaper* between 2007 and 2023. She reports on design, tech, art, architecture, fashion, beauty and lifestyle happenings in the United States, both in print and digitally. Pei-Ru took a key role in championing diversity and representation within Wallpaper's content pillars, actively seeking out stories that reflect a wide range of perspectives. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children, and is currently learning how to drive.
-
The great American museum boom
Nine of the world’s top ten most expensive, recently announced cultural projects are in the US. What is driving this investment, and is this statistic sustainable?
-
Here’s how Heathrow is reimagining airport chaos as ambient music
Grammy-nominated Jordan Rakei turns travel noise into a meditative soundtrack by sampling everything from baggage belts to jet engines
-
Wallpaper* checks into Gansevoort Meatpacking, an art-filled hotel that mirrors the district’s glow-up
This sharp, stylish New York hotel is a fixture in its neighbourhood, where boutiques, restaurants and clubs have long since taken over spaces once occupied by slaughterhouses
-
Design beyond humans: a new exhibition argues that the world doesn’t revolve around us
‘More Than Human’ at London's Design Museum (until 5 October 2025) asks what happens when design focuses on the perspectives and needs of other species, from bees to seaweed
-
‘100 Years, 60 Designers, 1 Future’: 1882 Ltd plate auction supports ceramic craft
The ceramics brand’s founder Emily Johnson asked 60 artists, designers, musicians and architects – from John Pawson to Robbie Williams – to design plates, which will be auctioned to fund the next generation of craftspeople
-
‘Disabled people have always been here’: a new V&A show centres on disability in design
Curator Natalie Kane takes us through five key exhibits from the London show, where design points the way to a more inclusive society
-
Malta’s London Design Biennale installation ‘reclaims death as a moment of reflection, not fear’
Wallpaper* speaks with Andrew Borg Wirth, curator of Malta's installation, ‘URNA’, which reimagines cremation rituals
-
11 things that caught our eye at Clerkenwell Design Week 2025
The Wallpaper* team bring you highlights from London’s Clerkenwell Design Week (20-22 May) – from public installations to product launches and a biscuit bar
-
‘R for Repair’ at London Design Festival displays broken objects, re-formed
In the second half of a two-part exhibition and as part of London Design Festival 2022, ‘R for Repair’ at the V&A displays broken objects, re-formed
-
‘Finding quality through the act of making’: Pearson Lloyd celebrates 25 years of design
Pearson Lloyd’s show ‘Change Making’ reflects on past designs from its archives, showcasing the influences on and evolution of the studio, from furniture design to the NHS
-
Tom Dixon marks his studio's 20 years with a show of design experiments
Mushroom, cork, steel coral and more: Tom Dixon showcases an overview of his design experiments as he celebrates his practice's 20 years