In 2001, the year Gucci Group (PPR) acquired Balenciaga, the motorcycle-inspired Lariat roared onto the fashion scene. Designer, Nicholas Ghesquière poured his heart and soul into this, distilling his unique vision - Sci-Fi robot, organic forms, 1980's New Romantics, biker girl chic, French classicism - into a distressed leather, inky blue, squishy tote with tassles, zips and rivets. He then dispatched the first thirty to chums, (Kate Moss, Sienna Miller, Chloë Sevigny, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Carine Roitfeld), a process known in marketing as ‘seeding'. Happily all these women were "social sparks", in other words instigators, originators and reliable trendsetters, who unanimously gave the Lariat the thumbs-up. No wonder, this has a louche, casual MOD (model-off-duty) look about it whilst being fashionably on trend. Along with skinny trousers and a blouson jacket, it remains part of the Balenciaga ‘look'.

Left: Kate Moss with Balenciaga Lariat bag

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