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It bag

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The2.55by Chanel

AnIt bagis a high-priced designer handbag that has become a popular best-seller. The phenomenon arose in the fashion industry and was named in the 1990s and 2000s. Examples of handbag brands that have been considered "It bags" areChanel,HermèsandFendi.

History

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One of the first designers credited with creating the concept of the easily identifiable "status bag" wasGiuliana Camerino,founder in 1945 of the Venetian fashion house Roberta di Camerino.[1]Camerino's handbags were instantly recognisable due to their artisan-made hardware and distinctive use of fabrics formerly reserved for clothing. Her innovations included in 1946, bags patterned with a trellis of R's (foreshadowingGucci's G's), woven leather bags in 1957 (predatingBottega Veneta) and in 1964, she designed a handbag with a unique articulated frame which was later taken up byPrada.[1]

The fashion houses ofHermès,ChanelandLouis Vuittoncreated handbags that became famous in their own right well before the concept of the "It bag" took hold. In 1935 Hermès created a top-handled leather bag called asac à dépêchesas part of their leather goods range. In 1956 this design was renamed theKellyafter being prominently worn byGrace Kelly.[2]Coco Chanelfirst created her quilted-leather2.55in February 1955.[3]In 1984, Hermès modified another of their designs, theHaut à Courroies(originally created around 1900) to create a bag for the actress and singerJane Birkin.[4]TheBirkinsubsequently became one of the most desirable, widely recognised bags during the 1990s and early 2000s designer bag craze.

The term "It bag" was coined in the 1990s with the explosive growth of the handbag market in fashion. Designers competed to produce a single, easily recognisable design which, if cleverly marketed, endorsed by the fashion press, or seen being carried by a celebrity, would become that season's must-have bag, selling in large numbers. Designers such as Bottega Veneta, Chanel,Fendi,Hermès, Prada, Gucci, and Vuitton continued to be known as creators of desirable bags, rather than enjoying fame for one or two specific models. Among the more successful individual designs created during this time were thePaddingtonbyChloé,theMotorcyclebyBalenciaga,and theAlexa(named forAlexa Chung) byMulberry.[5]Chloé, in order to enhance the prestige and scarcity of thePaddington,enforced a waiting list for orders, although this led impatient customers to knowingly purchase counterfeit bags.[6]Must-have bags for a particular season were often targeted by criminals and stolen to order, to be sold for significantly reduced prices to people who wanted a fashionable bag without paying full retail.[7]For example, in 2007, the targeted bags were theLanvinOlga Sacand theGivenchyBettina,and in 2008, they were the Chanel2.55and the BalenciagaMotorcycle.[8]

In the early 2000s the conceptual New York labelSlow and Steady Wins the Race,founded by the Chinese-American designerMary Ping,offered a range of consciously affordable bags deliberately based on It bags by Balenciaga, Dior and Gucci, but made in inexpensive calico with metalwork fromhardware storesmirroring the original bags' exclusive designer fittings.[9]These bags wereSlow and Steady's way of challenging the concept of consumerism and inbuiltobsolescencein traditional fashion manufacture.[10]

By 2008 the popularity of the "It bag" was reported to be in decline.[11]In May 2011, whilst acknowledging that there would always be customers for expensive status bags, Celia Walden reported that the concept of the must-have "It bag" was no longer in fashion.[12]

In the late 2010s and early 2020s the phenomenon had a small revival with new styles likeTelfar's shopping bags orBottega Veneta'sCassette purse, as well as re-issues of older it bag styles such as theDiorsaddle bag.[13]

See also

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References

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  1. ^abPatner, Josh (2006-02-26)."From Bags to Riches".The New York Times.Retrieved14 May2010.
  2. ^"Hermès International S.A."World Tempus. Archived fromthe originalon 25 April 2011.Retrieved31 March2012.
  3. ^Wallach, Janet (1999).Coco Chanel - Her Style and Life.London: Mitchell Beazley. p. 68.ISBN184000202-6.
  4. ^"In the Bag".Time magazine.17 April 2007. Archived fromthe originalon July 11, 2007.Retrieved31 March2012.
  5. ^Gibson, Pamela Church (2013).Fashion and celebrity culture.London: Berg. p. 156.ISBN9780857852311.
  6. ^Napoleoni, Loretta (2010).Rogue Economics(A Seven Stories Press 1st ed.). New York: Seven Stories Press. p. 106.ISBN9781583229941.
  7. ^Dellecese, Cheryl."Crimes of Fashion".Retrieved21 November2013.
  8. ^Prabhakar, Hitha (2011).Black market billions: how organized retail crime funds global terrorists(Kindle ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: FT Press. p. 55.ISBN9780132180245.
  9. ^Blanchard, Tamsin (2007).Green is the new black: how to change the world with style(2. printing. ed.). London: Hodder & Stoughton. p. 155.ISBN9780340954300.
  10. ^Mary Pingin theNew York Fashion Nowexhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum
  11. ^Corcoran, Monica (January 20, 2008). "From 'It' to Obit".Los Angeles Times.p. 2.
  12. ^Walden, Celia (May 5, 2011)."Why I'm glad the It bag is over".The Daily Telegraph.
  13. ^Janemarvel, Amy (2023-01-26)."What defines an 'It' bag today?".Jane Marvel.Retrieved2023-11-08.

Further reading

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