February 22, 2017 | Style & Beauty
Five things you must know about Céline Dion’s new handbag line.
Is there anything that makes us happier than a radiant Céline Dion? Not unless it’s a radiant Céline slaying in thigh-high red Schiaparelli boots and “La Flèche d’Argent” haute couture romper from S/S 17 and announcing that we can now buy things with Céline Dion’s name on them.
At a press conference at the massive Project fashion trade show in Las Vegas on February 21, she unveiled 70 of her coming 200-plus handbags and accessories, made with the Bugatti Group, which go on sale in September. She carried her own black bag from the “Octave” collection, a double handle satchel with a removable shoulder strap and brushed gold hardware. The music-themed collection is drool-worthy and accessible, since she wanted it to be within reach of her fans—and to fulfill important functions like not spilling out while you are doing everyday Céline things like riding roller coasters (more on that in a moment). Here, five things you must know.
“As time goes on, technology is changing,” Céline explains—since with all the tweeting, Facebooking, and Instagramming that happens from her show, “I’m not even home after a show and they’ve already seen it!” Being the ultimate fan crush is all about accessibility. Designing a line of handbags, she explains, is “another way to reach people.” Clutches run about $80, and the handbag she’s carrying at the press conference—the “pièce de résistance” of the collection—is listed at $298.
In September, her whole line of 200 handbags, wallets, and accessories will go on sale (although she’s staying mum for now on exactly where they’ll be sold). But starting Monday, February 27, four pieces will sell on her website. They range from $88 for the Cavatina wallet to $108 for the Pizzicate (a faux leather hobo), to $268 for the quilted sheepskin Vibrato leather tote, to the Octave bag she wore to Project.
“I love them all, but I love this one so much—can I say that?” she asks, pulling out the Vibrato tote, a horizontal quilted sheepskin, multi-pocket bag with a light gold closure. “It opens far, and we all have the problem: If I buy a small purse, it’s full. [So] I’m gonna buy myself a bigger purse—it’s still full.” You can cram a lot of stuff in the Vibrato. “I want my fans to know that I wear my own handbags. Do you understand what it means? No, you don’t! [laughs].”
Céline, a mother of twins, thinks a lot about moms—working moms, stay-at-home moms, her own mom. “The mother who’s so busy, and she’s at the grocery store, and she’s buying stuff, and buckling kids into cars and driving…” Obviously, that mom needs a fanny pack. And it needs to be expandable. Optimally, it would be enormous and black and say Céline Dion on the front, because that is kind of unapologetically owning the fanny pack, isn’t it? “When you go in the roller coaster? Now suddenly they pull the thing down and you need to get something out and you can’t. You don’t think about that. There are little nets in there. Sometimes they’re broken. You can wear [the fanny pack] and you can move it around.” And if Céline wears a fanny pack on the roller coaster, so can you. Only a giant funnel cake can complete this perfect image.
Don’t expect Céline to stop at handbags. “My dream file is now many drawers,” she says, filled with inspiration tears and sketches of “jewelry, fantastic cakes, party ideas, ties for men, boots and shoes, makeup.” And, she says, although she’s not prepared to announce anything today, she’s hoping to extend her lifestyle brand into all sorts of affordable items. “Like the songs I sing—I want people to think I’m accessible and reachable.” We would like to wear Céline jewelry while eating Céline cake.
Céline is so accessible, she emptied her purse for an admiring (and almost tongue-tied!) Robin Leach, who likened her outfit to “Little Red Riding Hood on Valentine’s Day” and asked her to show us its contents. Inside: hand sanitizer, a Tom Ford compact, a $100 bill, mini Altoids, and perfectly folded squares of tissue. Céline is just like us! (Only without the piles of crumpled receipts, broken lipsticks, and unwrapped Lifesavers.) The fix: Starting over with a new handbag, and we know just where to find one.
How do you keep pace with a party-packed Vegas lifestyle without burning out? Vegas Editor-in-Chief Andrea Bennett seeks out the healthy indulgences, insider finds, and desert beauty tricks that help you balance Vegas’s unique climate, nightlife culture, and fabulous temptations. (Hint: It’s not all yoga and kombucha here.)
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PHOTOGRAPHY BY Denise Truscello
