In a sneak peak, Dior revealed that their ubiquitous Book tote will remain in their range of bags under the new creative direction of Jonathan Anderson

The new Book tote

Books do not scale the bestseller list easily. It is, in fact, incredibly challenging for any book to do so. Not even popular novels such as Bram Stocker’s Darcula, which, naturally, wouldn’t have appeared on a bestseller list as we understand them today. But Book totes, on the other hand, are different. They can hang on to a brand’s top of the charts tenaciously. This could be why, despite their ubiquity—a presence amplified by the countless dupes readily available—Dior has decided to keep their recognisable Book tote under the new creative direction of Jonathan Anderson. Just yesterday, the brand shared images of three new takes of the iconic bag, with the accompanying comment: “A preview of creative director Jonathan Anderson’s interpretation of the Dior Book Tote ahead of his June 27 debut.”

Mr Anderson’s iteration of the Book tote is to give it a face of a book, literally. The Dracula version is faithful to the cover of its debut 1897 edition, including the font. The original-print visual is extended to two other books shared in that IG post: Dangerous Liaisons by Pierre-Ambroise-François Choderlos de Laclos (1782) and Dior by Dior (1956), written by Christian Dior himself. While they are far from frivolous choices and demonstrate a clear intellectual underpinning to his inspiration, they are a significant departure from Book tote creator Maria Grazia Chiuri’s earliest versions in the Oblique monogram or toile de jouy embroidery. It is hard to tell from the images, but it’s possible that Mr Anderson’s version is in leather. Regardless, the direct reference to books brings to mind predecessor Kim Jones’s obsession with printed publications—his Dior men’s fall 2020 collection was inspired by the American novelist Jack Kerouac.

This is a significant departure from Book tote creator Maria Grazia Chiuri’s earliest versions in the Oblique monogram or toile de jouy embroidery

Despite the literary heft, one can’t help but wonder if Mr Anderson was obliged to keep the Book Tote’s core visual appeal light enough for it to remain a commercial hit. It is also highly probable that he was, if not explicitly instructed, then persuasively guided to to keep the Book tote in the brand’s selection of recognisable bags. Retaining the tote could also maintain the brand identity and, just as important, accessibility, which may explain its immense popularity among Malaysian influencers, such as Vivy Yusof and Sri Vida, both with a sizeable collection. Furthermore, it is very likely that not killing the Book Tote is a way of keeping alive and leveraging the legacy of Maria Grazia Chiuri’s successful tenure, even when in that duration, her designs were met with considerable censure. The tote was a “flagship product” of that era, reimagined innumerable times. You don’t slaughter a cow when you can still milk it.

Talking about bovid animals, the Book tote has undeniably been Dior’s cash cow. And it is not unreasonable that Dior intents to stay merchandise-centric. Handbags are Dior’s primary revenue drivers and, as indicated in a report by Reuters last year, they often carry eye-openingly higher profit margins. To parent company LVMH, Dior would be remiss not to capitalize on the Book tote’s existing demand. With five more days to go before the Dior men’s spring/summer 2026 show, it is clear Jonathan Anderson will continue to bring highbrow intellectualism to his inspiration, but the execution of these Book totes also proves that the effort will very much align with a strategic intent to keep Dior’s merchandise at the forefront of its commercial success. The pages to the success of the Book tote will not be closed. However, the Book tote, whatever charm it is now imbued with, is plainly no Puzzle tote.

Photo: dior/Instagram