Much more than an accessory: from Jackie Kennedy to the Birkin, 200 years of history in a bag

The accessory par excellence. Loved, sought, shown. It’s the bag, small or large intimate appendageas necessary as it is essential when you leave the house.

The fashion journalist, critic and teacher tells us everything, or almost everything, about her Antonio Mancinelliwhich he recently published for Marsilio Arte “The Stock Exchange. 200 years, 5 continents”. An important volume which, through a selection of 300 examples of bags coming from five continents, explores the universe of this archetype from the beginning of the 19th century to the present day, telling how this daily prosthesis represents a “emotional archive” and a traveling psychic retreat.

The mirror of time and society

“The bag – says Mancinelli – is one mirror of time: in times of abundance it becomes sumptuous, in times of war it is reduced to essential functionality, in times of social change it transforms in style and role together with the people. Being able to read history through bags is a bit equivalent to emptying the great bag of humanity and observing the objects that fall out: stone tools, imperial seals, coins, rosaries, cosmetics, smartphones… Each one tells a different chapter but with a common thread, that of contain and carry with you“.

Having abandoned the rigid academic chronology, the volume can be browsed almost like a wardrobe where the accessories are stored following the authentic rhythm of the days, seasons and life. The bags are told according to theoccasion of use over the last two centuries: it ranges from functional bags for day to precious ones for the evening, from dance, theater and ceremony models to large travel luggage, up to bags for free time, for first love and even for extravagances Wunderkammer.

Iconic models, materials and iconographic research

Whether for evening or day, carried by hand or over the shoulder, whether it shines with beads and rhinestones, whether it is as precious as a diamond or “easy” in fabric, rustic in rope or bold in brass, bags of different shapes, materials and decorations appear, signed by high-sounding names in fashion or made as unique pieces.

The originality of the book also lies in the unprecedented iconographic researchconducted in the most important international archives which, far from the cold fashion show shots, tell all the warmth of the accessory. There are also many unpublished images which portray both ordinary women, immortalized in their daily lives with the bag that accompanies them every day, and legendary personalities who have contributed to making some of the most famous models timeless: from Jacqueline Kennedy a Jane Birkinup to the period photographs they portray Ornella Vanoni e Raffaella Carrà.