Princess Diana and the Lady Dior: How One Handbag Became a Fashion Icon

Princess Diana and the Lady Dior: How One Handbag Became a Fashion Icon

In September 1995, Princess Diana arrived in Paris for the opening of a Paul Cézanne retrospective at the Grand Palais. Somewhere within the choreography of an official visit, France's First Lady, Bernadette Chirac, presented Diana with a handbag from Christian Dior. It was black, compact and unusually architectural, with rounded handles, dangling gold letters and a quilted surface that seemed almost upholstered. The bag was not yet called the Lady Dior. But Diana carried it, photographers noticed it, and within months an accessory became inseparable from one of the most photographed women in the world. Dior would eventually give the handbag her title, turning a diplomatic gift into one of the defining luxury bags of the modern era.

Before the Lady Dior Had Diana's Name

The mythology of the Lady Dior sometimes makes it sound as though Christian Dior created the handbag specifically for Princess Diana.

He did not.

Christian Dior himself had died in 1957, decades before Diana received the bag. By the mid-1990s, the house was under the creative direction of Italian designer Gianfranco Ferré, whose architectural approach to clothing was particularly compatible with Dior's tradition of disciplined elegance.

The handbag emerged in 1995 and was initially known as the Chouchou, a French word that can mean a favorite or darling. Only after its association with Diana did it become the Lady Dior.

Its construction already contained unmistakable Dior codes.

The body was rigid and almost square, with two firm arched handles rising above it. Instead of collapsing against the body like the softer shoulder bags of the period, it maintained its shape.

Most distinctive was the leather surface.

The Cannage Pattern Connected the Bag to Dior's Couture Past

The Lady Dior was covered in cannage stitching, a geometric lattice inspired by the canework associated with the Napoleon III-style chairs used for guests at Christian Dior's couture presentations.