Decades after Christian Dior’s death, the handbag became an important piece of the Dior collection in 1990s. And in 1995, the fashion house introduced the biggest “it bag” of the 20th century, the Lady Dior. The story goes that Bernadette Chirac, the first lady of France, gave Princess Diana this bag, which featured cannage stitched leather and four charms for each of the letters in DIOR. Lady Di fell in love with the bag and bought one in every style and color. Thanks to her, in the year 1997, 140,000 of these newly dubbed Lady Dior bags sold for $1,200.

Designer John Galliano, with his wildly inventive purses, is largely responsible for the company’s success in the handbag market. His Saddle Bag, which has appear on “Sex and The City,” is shaped like a saddle with C and D charms hanging from miniature leather stirrups. In 2007, he redesign his iconic bag into 12 new styles representing 12 countries—Argentina, Mexico, France, Russia, Morocco, Spain, China, the United States, India, Japan, Egypt and England. Other popular Galliano bags include the Rasta bag, the Samurai, and the Dior 61.

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