April 9, 2026 |
Jonathan Anderson continues to expand his meticulous reworking of the house of Dior with the Cigale, a brand new sculptural top-handle bag made from velvety calfskin. Having first appeared on the SS26 runway – Anderson’s debut –, the bag arrives in the brand’s star colour palette counting rose soupir, icy blue, trench beige and moiré grey, and marks an exercise in Dior delicacy, being defined by its soft lines.
More than just a take on the house’s codes, the Cigale sees Anderson dive into the archives even further to reinterpret his “favourite dress of all in the history of fashion”: La Cigale, the iconic cocktail gown designed by Monsieur Dior in 1952. The original dress was crafted from a grey moiré which provided it with an almost metal disposition, melting into the wearer’s hips before firmly protruding into a shapely silhouette. This cinching is evoked here via a small bow appendage that sits lovingly atop the sac accented by metallic finishing, fusing each end of the calfskin back panel together like one would wrap a shawl around one’s shoulders on a late evening’s walk in the summertime.
The Cigale’s sole handle imbues the bag with the intrepid modernism at the heart of Dior’s DNA, and which the Irish designer now at the helm has long practiced himself. The ideal everyday companion, it can be carried by hand to lunch at the Wolseley, loosely placed on the shoulder to head down the Earls Court Road or delicately strewn across the body to hail a black cab to the Royal Opera House’s latest production of Rigoletto. Available in stores now, the Cigale is Dior through and through, couture-like and elegant, down to the subtle logo detail embedded around the chain’s eyelet offering you the chance to don history. Get yours here.
Photography courtesy of Dior.
