of The jewel in the crown It bags
THE TROPHY BAG found itself on the back foot during lockdown, passed over for pockets and practical totes. But with just a month to go until 21 June – and, fingers crossed, the end of all restrictions – it’s making a glorious return as the star of the new collaboration between Mary Katrantzou, known for her exuberant patterns, and fine jewellery maison Bulgari.
It’s the jeweller’s latest chapter of Serpenti Through The Eyes Of…, where a creative designs a collection inspired by the house’s iconic snake symbol. Mary has created three bags, each a guaranteed conversation-starter. Just looking at the campaign images of Natalia Vodianova is enough to make you want to blow the cobwebs off your stilettos.
The entire collaboration took place, naturally, over Zoom. But Mary, who visited the brand’s archives in Rome before the pandemic, insists it didn’t hinder the creative process. ‘We had a lot of calls, a lot of back and forth, sending the embroideries, the prototypes, the different finishes, and we were very lucky that everything was managed in such a precise manner. I didn’t feel like we were compromising on the design or craftsmanship at all.’
Mary’s relationship with Bulgari started in 2019, when the Greek designer was preparing her first couture show, at the Temple of Poseidon in Athens. Bulgari loaned archival pieces and the result – jaw-droppingly intricate gowns – was a pinch-me moment. ‘It became a love letter to Greece, for both of us,’ says Mary. ‘The founder of Bulgari has Greek origins and was a Greek silversmith before moving to Rome. We developed a mutual appreciation for each other.’
For the bag collection, Serpenti’s symbolism of rebirth was Mary’s focus. ‘The theme became the metamorphosis that originates in Serpenti,’ she says, and its form looms large – as the handle on one style, coiling its body into a curve that can be removed to make way for a shoulder strap. On the minaudière, the snake head provides the bag’s shape, the design inspired by a 1968 Serpenti watch.
The third bag is particularly precious and embroidered with a kaleidoscope of laser-cut butterflies by Paris’s Montex Atelier. Each took more than 40 hours of work, partly because the artwork had to be precision engineered on to the bag so that when closed the spiral of winged creatures would complete itself around the clasp. These are objects of art, certainly, but Mary also wanted them to feel fit-for-purpose, adding detachable handles and wrist straps. ‘You want the bag you carry to feel like an expression of yourself and a conversation piece, but it has to serve the function of being what it’s meant for,’ she says.
And where does she plan on wearing her bags when the time comes? ‘I hope,’ she laughs, ‘everywhere!’