It struck me as a bit of a surprise to find out a couple months ago that the Louis Vuitton Pallas Chain Bag was being discontinued. Not only was it popular and not very old, but it exemplified Louis Vuitton’s most successful recent strategy: mixing traditional monogram and colored leather to make one of the brand’s most longstanding signatures feel fresh and modern. Also, the Pallas tote wasn’t going anywhere, so why abandon the shoulder bag variant? When the Louis Vuitton Saint Placide Bag showed up on the brand’s website last week, I finally had a reasonable theory: an improved successor was on the way.
The Louis Vuitton Saint Placide Bag is similar to the Pallas Chain in some obvious ways: it’s a petite shoulder bag with a long chain strap, and the body of the bag is monogram canvas topped by a colored leather flap, which closes with a golden lock. Their proportions are a bit different—the new Saint Placide is a bit deeper and boxier, giving it more room inside—and the the look of the Saint Placide is a bit more modern, but it’s a pretty clear successor in every way.
The interior is color-matched with the leather top flap, and the gold-tone chain can be doubled for shoulder carry or strung single for crossbody. At a little over 10 inches wide, the bag is big enough for daytime essentials and casual carry, but the gleaming hardware and relative petiteness also make it appropriate for slightly fancier use in the evening. The bag is priced at $2,080 in four different colorways, which is in line with what bags of this type have been going for from the brand in recent seasons. Check out all the colors below.
