Princess Diana’s Favourite Dior Bag Gets Sizzling Update

Every woman has their favourite fashionable item, we’re talking here about bags of joy, purses of pleasure, handbags sent down from the heavens.

American film actress, Grace Kelly, who later became Princess of Monaco by marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956 shielded her baby bump with a Hermès that was later named after her.

The Queen is rarely seen without her Launer bag, as for Diana, Princess of Wales, it was Dior.

She was given "Chouchou" by France’s former First Lady Bernadette Chirac, during a trip to Paris in 1995.

The bag quilted in stitching pattern of Christian Dior’s own Napoleon III chairs, with the logo spelled out in pendant charms, which instantly became her favourite, so much so she wore it day and night, and bought several bags upon her return to London.

Before long, the Chouchou entered the stratosphere of ‘It bag’ and sold out at Dior’s boutiques around the world – the house even renamed it the "Lady Dior" in her honour.

Dior invited in 2014 a handful of esteemed artists to re-interpret the bag, as part of a one-off exhibition.

Olympia Scarry created one in glass with exploded sides, while Marc Quinn re-imagined it in petals and prints of dilated pupils.

The fourth edition of art-imbued bags launches in the UK in January. A perse range of contemporary art-world darlings were enlisted to use the Lady Dior as their canvas: Maria Nepomuceno, Raqib Shaw, Rina Banerjee, Eduardo Terrazas, Kohei Nawa, Athi-Patra Ruga, Jia Lee, Mickalene Thomas, Wang Guangle, Marguerite Humeau, and Joana Vasconcelos.

Chinese painter Wang Guangle echoed his 3D paintings, notably his "Coffin" series while creating a Lady Dior formed from layers of coloured leather and metallics.

 

Brazilian artist Maria Nepomuceno version couldn’t be more different, as her Lady Dior design was covered in red velvet, embroidered with ropes, straws, pearls,  ceramics, and motifs.