Credit: Rabanne x Arthus-Bertrand
Who would spend 250,000 euros on a handbag? Rabanne is banking on its customers, launching at Paris Fashion Week the most expensive bag in the world, made entirely of 18-carat gold.
This is not the first time the French fashion house has set a record: back in 1968, Paco Rabanne created for Françoise Hardy a minidress composed of a thousand gold plates, with a bodice embellished with 300 carats of diamonds, still considered the most expensive dress in the world. Today, Julien Dossena, the brand's creative director, is taking up the founder's legacy with Artisan Editions, a project to create three exclusive bags thanks to the contribution of three artisan ateliers. The new models will be available in limited editions or by special order at Rabanne's Paris boutique.
The star of this edition is a minibag, specifically a reinterpretation of the famous 1969 Nano Bag, the historic bag made of metal discs designed by Paco Rabanne. If the original version was inspired by butchers' aprons, this time it is the result of a collaboration with Arthus-Bertrand, a French maison specializing in metal jewelry. The creation of the bag required about 200 hours of development and another 100 hours of workmanship, with the process involving the handcrafting of each individual plaque.
The entire bag is made of 18-karat gold, or 75 percent pure gold, a choice that gives the precious material the right combination of hardness and strength, making it safe to handle. The body is made up of 157 plates, joined together to create the characteristic mesh design. The manufacturing process begins with the casting of gold nuggets, which are then made into slabs of the desired thickness, from which the plaques are made. Each plate is engraved with the “Pluie d'Etoiles” (literally “Rain of Stars”) motif, created by jewelry designer Camille Toupet, and then finished and assembled.
