One week ago today, I was living a fantasy life. The kind of life that feels like it is only meant for others and the life made of meticulously crafted threads of fashion lovers’ childhood dreams. Only, it was my reality. Christian Dior invited Vlad and me to its Fall 2024 show at the Brooklyn Museum on April 15th, and we also had the opportunity to see the bags before they hit the runway.
The three-day event included a welcome dinner at an Upper East Side townhouse, a lunch before the show on the 37th floor of a private dining club overlooking Central Park and the NYC skyline, and culminated at Brooklyn Museum with celebrities, Dior ambassadors, influencers, fashion-insiders, editors, and VIPs watching the latest collection from Maria Grazia Chiuri take the runway.
New York Meets Paris
The standout bag I must lead with will fill most of us with Dior-nostalgia. The Dior Newspaper Print Saddle Bag is a nod to a dress Carrie Bradshaw made famous from John Galliano’s Fall 2000 collection. The iconic Saddle Bag is imprinted with a New York – Paris newspaper print.
The most special nod of all? The date on the bag’s print is the date of the show we attended. This leads me to believe that I need this bag, as it is now part of my life story in a significant way. I suppose this is the line I will tell myself (and Vlad) as part of the convincing process. But honestly, isn’t this part of what makes a bag great? One that holds an essential milestone in your life? Yep, the case is settled, I need it.
To tie back to the roots of New York and Paris, other bags had very special touches. This Dior Book Tote, updated seasonally in new renditions, spoke to the NYC skyline on the front (with the back also showing the Parisian skyline). The black and white makes it feel subtle in a way that requires you to be up close to see what the bag is showcasing, and I like that aspect.
This entire collection was meant to embrace the meeting and melding of cultures, both integral to the House of Dior, and that is why there is the inclusion of both metropolitan fashion capitals on many of the wares and bags.
The newer Dior Toujours bag is also reimagined in a thick, durable canvas with a sketch of the Statue of Liberty and skyline. This bag is very easy to wear and pair with most of your wardrobe, plus a nice additional leather pouch is attached to the inside.
Denim Days
While these denim bags did not hit the runway, they are perfectly timed with the denim bag trend we see happening now. While I will always be a Book Tote girl, there is something about the Dior Denim Saddle Bag that evokes feelings inside of me that tie back to the days when I yearned to grow up and get to live in NYC.
If you know that feeling, the one rooted in most likely too much Sex and the City, and ambitious dreams, you may also feel drawn to this Saddle bag as well.
The last bag we saw up close sat pretty right in our room at The Mark Hotel on the Upper East Side. If you have lived in NYC or visited, you know the euphoria and happiness quintessentially perfect weather days bring to the city.
A NYC spring day that isn’t too hot or too cold, with flowers blooming and a breeze in the air, qualifies as the perfect day (granted, April 15th was 10 days off from what Mean Girls called the ‘perfect date’ which is April 25th, but close enough!).
The delicate beaded embroidery on this bag caught the sun as it shone through our window, sending a pattern of light glimmering in the corner of the room. It seems like a small thing because, in so many ways, it is, but it also reminded me of the very reason I first fell in love with bags.
Why Bags Bring Joy
Our bags are an extension of our lives, one that can be used as a practical hold-all or to make ourselves feel good in a variety of ways. Sometimes, I want a bag that makes me smile, one that feels special and shows the work that went into creating the design that dates back decades past with craftmanship and House codes.
This special Lady Dior Bag did just that for me, as did the entire collection. Not every bag will speak to each of us, as we are individuals with different likes, wants, and styles. But when a bag gives our heart that little jump and a smile sits on our face, it does its job.
We can embrace luxury and have fun with it, which is what the Dior Fall 2024 collection did for me. It helped that I was invited to spend the most memorable trip in NYC with Vlad and our friends from Dior, but it also was a grounding reminder of why I fell in love with bags in the first place.
Now, I am off to track down one of the Dior Newspaper Print Saddle Bags.
Discover the entire collection at Dior.com now!
*Thank you to the Dior team for hosting us for the show and weekend!
