From The Archive: Maddy's Favourite Lulu Bags

 

Lulu's youngest daughter Maddy Guinness grew up surrounded by bags in her mother's playful and wildly creative world. It's safe to say, she knows more than most about all the amazing Lulu Guinness creations over decades of design history. Here she shares five of her absolute favourites and the nostalgic stories behind them.

 

“She created a bag called The Paper Doll, which was based on one of her favourite toys growing up - those paper dolls with cut-out outfits and tabs to attach them. That became a cool toy for me too. The bag itself came with a ’50s pin-up version of her so I used to sit in the office and draw and cut out and colour clothes for that doll, which always felt a bit of an inception doing exactly what my mum did but 20 years later.”

 

“One of my favourite bags was a collaboration with the artist Rob Ryan, who is known for creating intricate paper silhouettes. He offered to collaborate to make a fan bag of one of his gorgeous pieces, which is two lovers against the London skyline. My mum was particularly excited for this bag that used Swarovski crystals as stars in the sky. Rob gifted my mum the original piece, which hung in our kitchen for around 15 years so when I look at the bag it just reminds me of my childhood. It was one of Paloma Faith’s favourite bags, too, so I was very overexcited to meet her!”

 



Doodle Dog and Daphne

“I think every child goes through the phase of begging their parents for a pet. My ultimate goal was a dog. Mum created the Doodle Dog handbag, which was this amazing doodle-esque fluffy dog silhouette that opened in the middle. I used to traipse around with it, dragging it behind me pretending it was my real dog. It definitely had haircuts on a few occasions and because it opened up in the torso I used to play surgery with it, too! Even better was that when we did finally persuade mum to get a Westie, our Westie Daphne now has her own bag - gorgeous mirrored hard-shell clutch. So I have my promise dog as well as our real gorgeous dog that we have both made into bags.”

 

“The bag that reminds me most of mum is the red couture leather bag that had on the front, a coin holder, a holder for a compact, a lipstick holder and also a small pouch for a comb. It feels feminine and timeless, evoking early Hollywood - Some Like It Hot vibes! This was the bag that she wore day in day out in her everyday life. What I love so much about it is that she made the bag according to the things she absolutely had to have on her at all times. It just speaks to her effortlessly chic values. It’s all the pieces that go into her clutches to this day, too. She always uses a compact to apply her red lipstick and she has an extensive collection of compacts at home.”

 

“One of the most simplistic, gorgeously interactive pieces is the original Birdcage. The idea to press the doorbell mechanism button in the bottom to hear the bird singing is just such a lovely detail that I don't think many people would really think to add, especially for the time. When they did the one-off piece ten years later, which was the animatronic singing Birdcage bag, it just shows that not only is it elegant and creative, but technologically advanced, too. That’s what my mum has achieved when it comes to the medium of handbags – it transgresses fashion to become a piece of technology and a work of art.

 

It was based on Victorian music boxes so it used Victorian clockwork technology and the bird itself sung and moved its head. There was a light at the top that came on when you switched it on. As a child I found this bag absolutely magical and, honestly, I still do! it's really nice that a whole new generation of Lulu bag lovers can enjoy this whimsical bag.”