Few accessories have ridden roughshod over the zeitgeist like Dior’s Saddle Bag. Introduced in 1999 by the house’s erstwhile creative director John Galliano, the small, kidney-shaped carryall was as emblematic of the early aughts as the era’s fashion-obsessed starlets. Originally offered in denim, beige, and the label’s signature Oblique logo print, and designed to be worn short-strapped and snug against the armpit, the Saddle was arguably the first It bag of the 21st century.
At the peak of its initial popularity, the bag was practically the fifth cast member of the TV show Sex and the City—it was where Carrie Bradshaw hid her cigarettes from her boyfriend Aidan. The Saddle once again became the height of chic at the end of the 2010s, when Y2K-retro fever gripped the runways and celebrities such as Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, and Rihanna embraced it. Now it’s making yet another return.
Together with its Lady Dior and Book Tote stablemates, the Saddle feels like the perfect counterpoint to the capacious coats and wispy column dresses that designer Maria Grazia Chiuri featured in the Dior pre-fall 2025 collection, which was shown in the garden of the postcard-ready To-ji Temple in Kyoto, Japan. That Chiuri would revisit one of Dior’s most winning offerings makes perfect sense. The Saddle can “adapt to all situations, like a chameleon,” she has said in the past.
Indeed, the purse is continually updated at the Dior ateliers. Artisans cut and assemble leather parts to compose the flap, hammer it into shape, sew the front and back to the sides, and then mold the canvas to form the curved insets. The “Christian Dior” signature is stamped in gold on the inside pocket, and the dangling letter D charm adds extra horsey panache. The Japanese-inflected peony-motif version pictured here, featuring delicately embroidered pink flowers and a shaded side panel that recalls tie-dye, will be available at Dior’s revamped New York flagship in mid-July.
Helmut Newton’s Saddle I, Paris, 1976.
Helmut Newton Foundation / Trunk Archive
According to fashion lore, the Saddle was at least partly inspired by a 1976 Helmut Newton photograph titled Saddle I, Paris. The black and white image depicts an Amazonian model on all fours in an ornate Parisian hotel room, wearing a push-up bra, jodhpurs, and a horse saddle on her back. Though Dior never confirmed the bag’s racy origin story, the house has winked at it: A memorable 2000 ad campaign photographed by Nick Knight featured Rhea Durham (now Mrs. Mark Wahlberg), clutching her Saddle, astride Gisele Bündchen. If Dior has its way, the latest versions of the bag are just as likely to cause a stampede. Giddyup!
Collage: A portrait of a horse in a double bridle, circa 1910s; a Japanese kosode from the Edo period (1615–1868), with a shibori (tie-dye) pattern on silk satin; model Alek Wek debuting the Saddle Bag at Dior’s spring 2000 ready-to-wear show in Paris; an illustration of peonies from a Japanese pattern book for kimono design, 1882. Center: the new Saddle Bag in denim, embroidered with the Dior Pivoine motif
Clockwise from top: Historia/Shutterstock; Sepia Times/Universal Images Group via Getty Images; Serge ARNAL/Dominique CHARRIAU/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images; GraphicaArtis/Getty Images. Center: Courtesy of Dior.
