The Tamesis
Imagine having a bag so weird that it can’t make room for your iPhone, but it can hold a tiny book. For Bulgari creative director Mary Katrantzou, this is a very intentional proposition. In an age when mobile phones have become our memories, maps, diaries and most reliable pastimes, Katranzou has created a series of Minaudières (part of the Bulgari Icons project) that offer a polite but pointed way of saying no. Their small size is not a flaw, but a philosophy: practicality is gently deposed and meaning takes its place. If your phone doesn’t fit, what can you bring? “Culture,” Catlanzo replied.
A small book replaces the screen; thoughts replace the feed. For Katrantzou, the bag is no longer a handbag but a statement of presence, intention and rare luxury that is temporarily out of reach. In today’s hyperconnected world, this may be its most fundamental characteristic. This design gesture aroused curiosity and inevitably sparked debate. “These five Bulgari Icons Minaudières function almost like talismans,” says Karantzou. “They hold a philosophy, not excess. They ask us to think of luxury as an intention, not an accumulation, and to consider that what we choose to carry can reflect not only our style but our values.”
The project includes a campaign shot by Ethan James Green under the artistic direction of Ferdinando Verderi and featuring five formidable women: Isabella Rossellini, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Linda Evangelista, Sumayya Vally and Kim Ji-won. Each bag comes with a pouch containing a custom-made miniature book, hand-bound to reflect the shape of the bag and written by the woman carrying the bag.
Called “Notes On,” these little books feature curiosity, tradition, and self-understanding, reflecting personal reflection. Beginning with Rossellini, the series begins with the animal kingdom, examining its wisdom and mystery, and exploring how a lifelong fascination with animal behavior can deepen our understanding of our shared world. Then turning to Evangelista, her contribution is a personal ode to strength and resilience, expressed through the power of her Italian roots and heritage.
For architect Vally, “Notes On” becomes a meditation on home, a fluid, plural space, an architecture formed through memory, belonging and meaning rather than fixed boundaries. Author Ngozi Adichie extends reflection to cultures themselves, considering their resonances, our role in shaping them, and the power of women as cultural guardians and bearers of stories across generations. Finally, actress Ji-won brings the drama inward, with a thoughtful exploration of inner peace and self-acceptance, and reflections on the balance between perfection and existence.
Together, these voices form narratives about observation and inheritance, resilience and belonging, and the ways in which we understand ourselves and the world we inhabit. Each of the five trinkets carries historical symbolism and is a dialogue across time, where the present flirts with history. Monet reinvented an ancient Roman coin, now covered in precious enamel. Tubogas slides into the spotlight, its metal coils wrapping jewel-like lizard skin “eggs” in a nod to nature. “Dream of a Heroine” showcases the grandeur of the Baths of Caracalla, transforming ancient mosaics into dazzling jewel inlays. BVLGARI BVLGARI steps into the modern style with a stylish small cylindrical bracelet inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Serpenti sheds its body to become a free-standing piece that exudes sophistication, with the snake “a symbol of change that evolves over time,” Catlanzo said.
The designer emphasized that cultural symbolism is at the core of Bulgari’s Minaudières project, with each handbag rooted in the cultural formations of Greece, Italy and Rome, “carrying the history of its origins,” she said. “I believe these references need no explanation to feel their heritage. Their power lies in their evolution. This balance between heritage and innovation defines Bulgari’s strength, with today’s innovation becoming tomorrow’s legacy.”
