The V&A Museum dedicates an exhibition to handbags, the most comprehensive ever in the UK

London ’s Victoria and Albert Museum will reopen to the public (as soon as possible after the health emergency) with an exhibition devoted entirely to handbags. Visible until September 12, 2021, Bags: Inside Out, this is the title of the exhibition, promises to be the most comprehensive exhibition ever held in the United Kingdom dedicated to this beloved accessory for women. Often an object of design, bags become a testament to the evolution of women’s fashion and taste. Through some three hundred examples of various shapes and sizes, the exhibition aims to explore the function, status and craftsmanship associated with these “trendy” accessories from the 16th century to the present. The fascination with handbags also expands to beauty cases, military backpacks, travel trunks and handbags made by the most famous international fashion houses.

The exhibition is divided into three sections: the first presents handbags as practical objects designed to hold our personal belongings, from documents to makeup, from wallets to gas masks. In fact, the bag that Her Royal Highness Queen Mary used for her gas mask during World War II is also included. The second section focuses on the role of the handbag in society, among the accessories of well-known personalities and celebrities from the worlds of politics and the elite: from Hermes’ Kelly in honor of Grace Kelly to Lady Dior ’s tribute to Princess Diana, to Fendi’s Baguette that Sarah Jessica Parker wears in one of the most famous scenes in Sex and the City. Finally, the third section illustrates the process from design to finished product. Not forgetting a glimpse into the future with the innovative and alternative materials with which designers plan to make fashionable and environmentally sustainable bags.

Pictured is Judith Leiber’s Fabergé Egg bag (1983) © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

The V&A Museum dedicates an exhibition to handbags, the most comprehensive ever in the UK

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