Elizabeth Taylor’s Handbag Sets Auction Record
One of the iconic star’s iconic bags sold for a record price at Christie’s.
Elizabeth Taylor’s (1932-2011) name alone evokes images of classic Hollywood glamor, stardom, and sophisticated style. So it’s no surprise that one of her handbags set an auction record for its type, the Fendi Baguette bag, as it sold for $21,950 at Christie’s.
The Handbags Online auction, running from May 28 to June 11, featured iconic bags from major designers such as Hermès, Chanel, and Dior, and totaled $3,256,407. Even though it wasn’t the top lot (that honor would go to a white Himalaya Nilocticus Crocodile Birkin bag by Hermès, which sold for $120,650), the Elizabeth Taylor connection made the white canvas Fendi Baguette with a red-and-black floral print the star of the show.
Fendi Baguette bags are style icons in their own right. Christie’s declares them “The world’s first ‘It’ bag.” Making their debut in 1997, the bags exploded in popularity when they were featured on the stylish TV show Sex and the City, quickly becoming a must-have accessory. The small size and short strap meant the bag could be tucked under one arm, like a baguette. It was available in a wide variety of colors and materials, from snakeskin to sequins. Kiara Cooper, handbags and accessories specialist at Chrisie’s, attributes their appeal to the fact that “There are so many variations, and they feel one-of-a-kind,” quoting creator Silvia Venturini Fendi, who called the bag “a manifesto of identity and individuality, because it is always the same but always different.”
Another Fendi Baguette that belonged to Taylor, who owned 18 of them, according to Harper’s Bazaar, sold for a more modest $4,064. This one, in brown leather, was less splashy than the record-setting crystal-embellished floral bag. Both bags were purchased by their previous owner at Christie’s auction of The Collection of Elizabeth Taylor: Fashion and Accessories in December 2011, the fourth in a series of auctions of the star’s belongings and memorabilia.
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