Delvaux partners with animation artist Nic Courdy for its latest collection

This summer, leather goods company Delvaux paid tribute to its Belgian homeland with seven miniature versions of its signature handbag, the Brillant, which was originally designed in 1958, by naming each bag in the collection after a Belgian city that represents a particular aspect of Belgian quirkiness and attitude – what it calls “Belgitude.”

The 188-year-old brand commemorated the retrospective collection by releasing a short film (Les Miniatures Belgitude), to to riff on the scale and proportions of the miniature bags.

Now, the brand has done it again. Following in the footsteps of Belgian filmmaker Jaco van Dormael - whom Delvaux enlisted to create seven short films, full of surrealist imagery and optical illusions, for its autumn/winter collection - is Nic Courdy, a highly imaginative animation artist who strives for a contemporary narrative in his work that reflects current social constructions but within the digital landscape.

Delvaux worked with Courdy for its Couture Exclusive Collection, utilising its signature savoir-faire to craft four exclusive stories and translate them into four beguiling handbags. Courdy then echoed the tales in four digital animations that represent each of the new Brillant bags with a chivalrous, baroque and mythical universe inspired by the HBO hit show, Game of Thrones.

“The creative universe of the collection aesthetically and conceptually instantly felt connected to my work,” says Courdy. “There were elements of fantasy and a strong presence of historical inspiration that made the collaboration feel right.”

The visual artist's collage-based work explores the ideas of open-source content and the ways in which the internet’s availability of media and social interaction can present narratives from different perspectives.

For Courdy, the interesting part of the collage process is the ability to take a figure or character from art history and allow them to take on a new role or identity in a newly fabricated work.

The limited-edition bags look as if they would be at home in a museum collection, says Courdy, which made it easy for them to become central characters in his animations.  

“The animations explore a neo-fantasy visual narrative that work to enhance the ambiance of each bag's unique storyline,” he added.

There’s the Iron Shield, adorned with superimposed layers of silver leather scales impersonating a knight’s armour. Inspired by queenly armour, the Queen's Desire’s royal-purple leather is embellished with fine brass detailing that is fabricated by Swiss clockmakers and galvanised in France.

Bedecked in leather flowers dipped in black, the Black Beauty deploys its petals, embroidered with a pearl and then stitched onto a lizard base. And lastly, a bag with a golden sun rising from the clasp, the Golden Glory lives up to its moniker. 

New accessories also join this fantasia of precious leathers; additional charms and a Charms crossbody strap that allows the wearer to keep their Brillant bag close to their heart.

The “Couture Exclusive Collection” is available from November exclusively in select Delvaux boutiques;  delvaux.com

50 stylish Christmas gifts for her