Return of the Sac

But it turns out these bags are made of sturdier stuff than the Lehman Brothers, because as Sienna Miller has shown they’ve still got ‘it’. Back in 2001 when the Gucci Group first acquired Balenciaga, Nicholas Ghesquière created the motorcycle-inspired Lariat bag, which was rapidly scooped up by style mavens such as Kate Moss, Chloë Sevigny and Carine Roitfeld.

And while these women may have largely left behind their 2001 boho fashions, the bag is still as stylish as ever. Yesterday Sienna Miller turned up to court for the Leveson Trial sporting the same black Lariat that she was one of the first to wear ten years ago. Her outfit is still head to toe black, but the cut out body and natty trilby are replaced by a more sombre and sophisticated winter getup.

The bag for every season has stuck with Sienna through thick and thin. Originally, Ghesquière’s creation wasn’t even meant to go into production. In an interview a few years ago, the designer said, ‘When I showed the prototype to the people who asked me to do it, they weren’t happy with it. Accessories were rigid then. Luxury leather, especially, was about rigidity. So they were not really happy, and they decided not to produce it.’

But the bag proved so popular with the models who walked in the 2001 show that 25 were created and given out to key trendsetters, and an icon was born.

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