More than 60 years after its release, Gucci’s Jackie 1961 bag still proves to be the perfect companion
You can take Jackie out to a party. Or a fancy restaurant, sitting pretty next to you. You may consider bringing Jackie with you to your next business meeting, or even on a date.
Of course, the Jackie in question, that all‐too‐perfect companion, can only be Gucci’s Jackie 1961 handbag. Released in 1961, as its name suggests, the bag has two defining features: its elegantly curved, half‐moon shape and the piston lock hardware that secures it. It’s that winning combination that has cemented the accessory as a Gucci signature, especially after an endorsement from former US first lady Jackie Kennedy via a famous paparazzi shot in the 1970s. Inevitably, the bag became associated with her enviable sense of style and even inherited her name.
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Just as Kennedy’s impeccable outfits continue to inspire decades later, the appeal of the Jackie 1961 has hardly worn off. Former Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele proved as much when he reintroduced the bag for the Italian fashion brand’s fall/winter 2020 collection. The new incarnation stayed true to its original design, but Michele modernised it with sleek and smooth leather, offering it in medium, small and even mini sizes for the Instagram crowd. A star was born all over again.
Since then, the Jackie 1961 bag has become the arm candy of choice for a celebrity cast: Harry Styles, Dua Lipa, Miley Cyrus and Kaia Gerber have all been spotted out and about with it. If this tells us anything, it is that there is a Jackie for everyone, regardless of taste, gender and lifestyle.
Beyond the buttery leather that Michele initially proposed, the Jackie 1961 bag now comes in pastel‐hued patent leather—naughty and nice—that will appeal to anyone bringing Barbiecore into the new year. There is a punk‐influenced edge to the versions punctured with metal eyelets, making them the obvious choice for a night out at a rock concert. (Modern‐day rock star Styles even included a couple of them in his collaboration with Gucci.)
