LONDON (UK) – Shedding light on the function, design and craftsmanship of bags, ranging from the humble pouch to Birkin totes, an exhibition has begun in London titled “Bags: Inside Out”.
The expo at the Victoria & Albert Museum has on display 300 bags, including former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s despatch box, and the Fendi ‘Baguette’ used by actress Sarah Jessica Parker in “Sex and the City”.
It was opened on Saturday after an eight-month delay because of the coronavirus.
“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),” said exhibition curator Dr Lucia Savi.
The event will display the function, symbolic meaning, design and manufacture of bags over the centuries, said the curator.
Exhibits have been donated by some of the world’s biggest designers and fashion houses, including Fendi, Prada and Karl Lagerfeld. There are star attractions such as the first ever Hermes ‘Birkin’ bag, and Mulberry handbags from the private collections of models Alexa Chung and Kate Moss.
One of the exhibits is a quirky bag designed by artist Damien Hirst for Prada and it employs real insects.
Savi said she hoped the exhibition would show visitors how bags have become a “symbolic expansion of ourselves” and something that people have used “throughout history and across the world.”