Do We Want to See a Comeback of the Givenchy Nightingale?

“Just 10 to 15 years ago, the words “designer handbag” were redolent of bouffanted stuffy Sloanes, clutching on to their Chanel quilted bags as they lunched at Le Caprice,” declared a 2006 piece on The Guardian titled, “Carried Away”. “Now, announcements heralding this season’s It bags make front covers of fashion and gossip magazines,” it concludes.

We’ve all seen it. We’ve spoken of it, dissected it, debated it, dissed on it, and when all else failed, partaken in it – “it” being the phenomenon of the It-bag.

It-bags rise hard… and fall harder (it was only a year later that The Guardian wrote a follow-up piece titled, “The year our handbag habit got out of control”). They’re purses that surpass all conceivable expectations, pile up on wishlists and waitlists alike, until, just like that, they’re not It anymore.

Consequently, the next time you spot one in the wild, you’re scandalized, not because it feels like the hot new must-have on the horizon, but instead, because it evokes a fresh memory of your mom catching your six-year-old self sinfully consuming the Sexyback music video.

And yet, for a bag that was released the same year (Fall 2006, to be exact), the Givenchy Nightingale feels hardly as dated as its trendier counterparts.

And that makes it primed for a comeback.

The Reign of the Nightingale

And it is thus, dear reader, that I found myself thinking not of incriminating Justin Timberlake MVs, but of Givenchy’s glory days when Minnie Driver appeared last month outside ABC Studios ahead of her appearance in season 5 of Emily in Paris, with a pebbled leather OG Nightingale in tow.

Released at the tail-end of the noughties by then-creative masthead Riccardo Tisci, the Nightingale, along with the Pandora and – the more popular of the three – the Antigona, constituted Givenchy’s winning trifecta of hit bags… that weren’t quite It bags. Because you see, unlike their waitlist-spawning, frenzy-inducing counterparts (think, the Chloé Paddington or Fendi Spy, both of which were resuscitated earlier this year), Givenchy’s lineup never quite reached the critical mass required for oversaturation.

And that, in turn, made them the perfect purse companions – and by extension, profit-making machinations – to the rest of Tisci’s not-so-subtle subversion at Givenchy, a tenure often dubbed “50 Shades of Black”.

After all, his debut lineup was described by Vogue’s Sarah Mower as “painful”. Cathy Horyn deemed him fashion’s “latest cabbage patch discovery”. Tisci himself opined, “They called me the antichrist,” and highlights from his collections include bifurcated Bambi backpacks, snarling Rottweiler tees, and Madonna-printed totes. A rather shocking fashion legacy, by all standards.

Therefore, the Nightingale, in particular, provided some much-needed middle ground: punk enough for the Zoë Kravitzes and Olsen twins of the day to sport with their tattered knits and smudged mascara, but also polished enough for the occasional Kendall Jenner and Vanessa Hudgens sighting.

Once a Hot Bag, Always a Hot Bag?

There is, however, a very good reason as to why I refuse to classify the Nightingale within the broader umbrella of it-dom.

“It bags are timestamps,” says Ira Lysa, CEO of Imperial Alterations. “They’re barometers of societal aspirations – be it empowerment, rebellion, nostalgia, or innovation.” After all, you see a Céline Luggage Tote, and your mind is instantly teleported back to those early-2010s days of peplum tops and blazers in the clubs. Prada’s Re-Edition invokes late-90s minimalism, Balenciaga’s Le City is an attempt to reanimate the seedy, sleazy appeal of Kate Moss and Mary-Kate Olsen. Even the Margaux, a voluminous, minimalist piece devoid of the usual trappings of an It bag, became so inherently tied to the TikTok stealth wealth trend that The Row was prompted to phase it out altogether!

Of course, it bears mentioning that nearly all of these bags have seen comebacks in recent years. “Most bags that were hot at one point and then faded out tend to make a comeback,” says Alejandro of the Instagram @y2kbags, “Because once a hot bag, always a hot bag.”

Yet, that is more a case of brands reissuing their instantly recognizable (and to some, dated) icons in an attempt to bank on the nostalgia trend – and in the process, inflate their demand (and prices, natch!) over the secondary market.

The Nightingale, on the other hand, is a standalone, functional accessory on its own; “a chic cockroach of a carryall,” as Liana Satenstein puts it, “that can survive a nuclear war of trends.” While the OG possesses the quintessential DNA of that indie sleaze era, the updated Nightingale, released nearly a decade later for Fall 2016, boasts a refined redesign perfect for the quiet luxury folks. Take the myriad sizes, colorways, and fabrications into account, and there really is a Nightingale for everyone!

The Sarah Burton of It All

“Givenchy has had seven creative directors in the past 30 years. Burton, formerly with Alexander McQueen, is the latest,” wrote Cathy Horyn after Burton’s FW25 debut. “But despite the talents of John Galliano, Lee Alexander McQueen and Riccardo Tisci — to name the best of Burton’s predecessors — LVMH has always seemed to treat Givenchy as a poor relation of its richer and better-known properties, Christian Dior and Louis Vuitton.”

In fact, it appears that before Tisci’s tenure – and, for that matter, since Tisci’s departure (save for the valiant attempt that is the Voyou bag from Matthew Williams’ ill-fated years) – the brand has struggled to come up with the type of handbag hit that keeps the cogs of the conglomerate in motion.

“Givenchy was known for tailoring, but that hardly sets it apart in this town,” Horyn quips, before adding, “So, Burton, in a sense, is starting from scratch.”

And the Nightingale, like Burton’s East-West Antigona, could provide some much-needed direction to the label’s otherwise lukewarm accessories lineup.

Yet, it’s also worth noting that reissuing the same style – only now more expensive – in an attempt to target the nostalgic end of the market is likely to add more malaise than money to the LVMH coffers. For every successful relaunched Dior Saddle, after all, there’s a failed Mulberry Alexa or Marc Jacobs Stam relaunch – mere blips on our luxury radars!

No, Burton’s Nightingale – if it were to come back – would need to coexist in tandem with the rest of her vision for Givenchy. Could there perhaps be a structured Nightingale top-handle to go with those severely cinched coats? A relaxed Nightingale bucket, in line with the bucket bags trend every other brand is doing? What about a sleeker Nightingale hobo instead?

The opportunities are truly endless!