Argentinean gaucho saddles inspire Dior's leather artisans
A previous trip to Argentina by Christian Dior creative director, Maria Grazia Chiuri, where Ms Chiuri encountered the personalised leather saddles of Argentinian gauchos, inspired the latest, leather iteration of the Dior Book Tote bag, the luxury house has revealed.
The calfskin handbags, which retailed at around $6800 and were included in Dior’s Puglia-inspired Cruise 2021 collection, have already sold out following a recent social media campaign detailing the high level of leather artisanship behind each piece. During the campaign, Dior said that roughly 12-16 hours of work went into the making of each one of the totes.
Natural leather was laser-cut and sculpted to obtain the three-dimensional impression of the original, gaucho-inspired drawing, a brand spokesperson said, followed by five or six repetitions of waxing to achieve the final colour. Knotted rolls of leather were inserted inside the perforations to represent flower pistils.
Image: Christian Dior.
