Bags: Inside Out’: You will be shocked by this London museum’s historical handbag exhibit:
From pouch to Birkin bags to Louis Vuitton luggage, there is a new exhibition in London that will showcase the design and craftsmanship of the accessory that carries our stuff, but can mean so much more than that.
Bags: Inside Out’ at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London features 300 bags, including former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s despatch box, and the Fendi ‘Baguette’ carried by actress Sarah Jessica Parker in “Sex and the City.”
Delayed for eight months due to the coronavirus pandemic, the show will now start on Saturday, with all the original exhibits in place.
The exhibition curator Dr. Lucia Savi said: “The whole world has been affected by this pandemic and the lenders have been really amazing about giving us permission to continue displaying their (objects),”.
It will show the function, symbolic meaning, design, and manufacture of bags through the centuries.
Items were donated by some of the world’s biggest designers and fashion houses, including Fendi, Prada, and Karl Lagerfeld. Iconic items such as the first-ever Hermes ‘Birkin’ bag and Mulberry handbags from the private collections of models Alexa Chung and Kate Moss are on display.
The exhibition has been split into different parts to illustrate the many facets of the bag. When looking at function, Savi points to styles that have been shaped to accommodate what they’ve been designed to hold, from coin purses, briefcases, and doctors’ bags to lightweight military backpacks and gas mask bags dating to the Second World War.
