The volume unfolds through a taxonomic narrative structure that abandons rigid academic chronology in favour of the authentic rhythms of our days, seasons and lives as they unfold. The book is organised around the different occasions of use that have punctuated everyday life over the past two centuries: from functional daytime bags to precious evening pieces, from bags designed for dances, the theatre and ceremonies to large travel luggage, before moving on to bags for leisure, first love and even the eccentricities of the Wunderkammer. It is a kaleidoscope of forms, materials and decorations that celebrates the extraordinary inventiveness of designers — from fine leathers and silks to engraved metals and visionary plastics — while bearing witness to women’s increasing presence in public life and the evolution of their social condition.

The book’s great originality lies in its unprecedented iconographic research, conducted across major international archives to capture the bag in its natural habitat. In a deliberately unconventional choice, it avoids detached runway photography in favour of works of visual art, sequences from great films and historical photographs. Many previously unpublished images portray both ordinary women, captured in their everyday lives with the bags that accompanied them, and legendary personalities who helped make some of the most celebrated designs timeless. These range from bags associated with international icons such as Jacqueline Kennedy and Jane Birkin to period photographs portraying unforgettable figures of Italian popular culture such as Ornella Vanoni and Raffaella Carrà.

The result is an original work that transcends the boundaries of fashion to open up a polyphonic dialogue with sociology, cultural history and design, reminding us that emptying a bag ultimately means confronting our own inner world.