Many of us will have begun 2021 with a plethora of New Year’s resolutions that we’ve all probably broken by now. However, for Maria Grazia Chiuri and the design team at the Dior atelier, the modus operandi appears to be very much the same. Step one: create the new it-bag, step two: have the public savour over it as they daydream about having it slung over their shoulders.
Released on New Year’s Day, the Caro Bag takes inspiration from Catherine Dior, the sister of Christian Dior. Lovingly nicknamed Caro, this is not the first time that Mr Dior’s sister has served as a muse for Chiuri. Those with a sharp memory will remember that a photograph of Catherine from a family photo album inspired the house’s Artistic Director for her SS20 RTW collection. It should therefore come as little surprise that she provides a further point of reference for the design team for their latest offering.
The Caro bag is delicately cut out of calf leather in the House’s ateliers in Italy before being meticulously assembled with over 18,000 stitches of quilting and affixed with hardware bearing the House’s “CD” initial signature. For those keen to veer away from the classic black option, there are a variety of alternative options to choose from including grey, beige, ivory, shearling, and raw denim versions. If you’re in the hunt for what Dior describe as “an object of desire”, you’ll have to act on those impulses of yearning swiftly.
Take a look behind the curtain of the Dior atelier, as the design team handcraft each part of the Caro bag in the short-film below: