A Very Short History Of: The Lady Dior Bag

The Lady Dior is arguably the most iconic Dior bag. Celebrating its 30th birthday in 2025, the bag first appeared in 1995 when it was gifted by Bernadette Chirac, the First Lady of France to Lady Diana, Princess of Wales. At this time the bag was yet to be launched, and was known as the Chouchou. I think we can all agree that Lady Dior is a much better name!

Two months after receiving the bag, Lady Diana was photographed exiting a plane in Buenos Aires carrying it, leading to it being named Lady Dior. In the years to come Princess Diana was often photographed toting the handbag, launching it to icon status.

The bag itself features a classic design, clean, very architecture lines and metallic charms. The charms are reflective of the lucky charms Christian Dior always kept with him, whilst the Cannage motif used in the design dates back to the Napoleon III seats that are used in Dior fashion shows.

Over 100 parts are used to assemble the Lady Dior: the hardware alone is constructed from 40+ metal parts. The attention to detail on these bags is a huge part of their timeless appeal.

Over the years, the Lady Dior bag has been re-imagined in mini, small, medium and larger sizes, whilst also adding plays to the charms and materials used. In 2020 the Lady D-Lite was launched and whilst it still featured the Cannage motif, these designs bought in embroideries similar to the Book Bag totes and a more casual feel to the Lady line.