Belt bag
Handbag
c.1969
c.1969
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Paco Rabanne (named Francisco Rabaneda Cuervo at his birth in.1934) is a Spanish fashion designer. Together with Pierre Cardin and André Courrèges, Rabanne led the Space Age movement in fashion in 1960s Paris.
In 1966 he founded his eponymous label and presented his seminal collection ‘Twelve Unwearable Dresses in Contemporary Materials’ at Hôtel Georges V in Paris. This collection introduced Rabanne’s sculptural mini-dresses in unusual materials that are now his signature items. These dresses were made in a variety of materials including acrylic discs, metal links and paper, all pieced together to create a chainmail-like structure.
In 1969 Rabanne released the ‘69’ bag. The bag is made up of a series of perforated steel discs linked with metal rings and has a long metal shoulder chain. Rabanne commented that a butcher’s apron and a lavatory chain inspired the design. The ‘69’ is considered one of the original ‘It’ bags.
The use of linked metal discs, so prominent in the design of the ‘69’, was repeated by Rabanne in subsequent bag designs and can be seen in this bag, made in about 1970.
In 1966 he founded his eponymous label and presented his seminal collection ‘Twelve Unwearable Dresses in Contemporary Materials’ at Hôtel Georges V in Paris. This collection introduced Rabanne’s sculptural mini-dresses in unusual materials that are now his signature items. These dresses were made in a variety of materials including acrylic discs, metal links and paper, all pieced together to create a chainmail-like structure.
In 1969 Rabanne released the ‘69’ bag. The bag is made up of a series of perforated steel discs linked with metal rings and has a long metal shoulder chain. Rabanne commented that a butcher’s apron and a lavatory chain inspired the design. The ‘69’ is considered one of the original ‘It’ bags.
The use of linked metal discs, so prominent in the design of the ‘69’, was repeated by Rabanne in subsequent bag designs and can be seen in this bag, made in about 1970.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Belt bag |
| Materials and techniques | metal |
| Brief description | Bag, attached to belt, steel, designed by Paco Rabanne, France, c.1969 |
| Physical description | The bag comprises a small bag attached to a belt. It is made of gold and silver coloured metal discs linked together with small metal rings. The belt fastens at the front with a large oval silver coloured plate with a hook-to-ring closure behind. The bag has an envelope closing and also has a hook-to-ring fastening. |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label | Techniques used to manipulate and shape metal to make bags and their hardwear are often adapted from those employed by jewellers. There is also a long tradition of bags which use metal as the main material. For example filigree, fine wire twisted into intricate lace-like patterns, was considered a fashionable new technique in 17th-century Europe and was applied to small bags. In the 1960s, Paco Rabanne famously created chainmail dresses and accessories from linked metal discs.
V&A, Room 40, Bags: Inside Out. (12/2020) |
| Credit line | Purchased with the assistance of the Elspeth Evans Bequest |
| Summary | Paco Rabanne (named Francisco Rabaneda Cuervo at his birth in.1934) is a Spanish fashion designer. Together with Pierre Cardin and André Courrèges, Rabanne led the Space Age movement in fashion in 1960s Paris. In 1966 he founded his eponymous label and presented his seminal collection ‘Twelve Unwearable Dresses in Contemporary Materials’ at Hôtel Georges V in Paris. This collection introduced Rabanne’s sculptural mini-dresses in unusual materials that are now his signature items. These dresses were made in a variety of materials including acrylic discs, metal links and paper, all pieced together to create a chainmail-like structure. In 1969 Rabanne released the ‘69’ bag. The bag is made up of a series of perforated steel discs linked with metal rings and has a long metal shoulder chain. Rabanne commented that a butcher’s apron and a lavatory chain inspired the design. The ‘69’ is considered one of the original ‘It’ bags. The use of linked metal discs, so prominent in the design of the ‘69’, was repeated by Rabanne in subsequent bag designs and can be seen in this bag, made in about 1970. |
| Bibliographic reference | Bags V&A Exhibition (Project)
Bags: Inside Out (2020) Lucia Savi, V&A Publishing, pg 33
|
| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.19-2019 |
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| Record created | January 9, 2019 |
| Record URL |
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