Patents on the soles of your shoes...: 2026

Saturday, April 11, 2026

Oh, patents! Voltpost Air EV chargers - Generation 2.

The Generation 2 Voltpost Air is an Electric Vehicle (EV) charger that wraps around the top of a regular, public utility lamppost. The Voltpost Air EV charger is mobile-app-operated, with a charging cable that is lowered and raised from the Voltpost Air wraparound solution, installed at the top of the lamppost (see image below). Thus, the Voltpost Air EV charger Generation 2, like the Generation 1 Voltpost EV charger installed at the base of a lamppost, also cooperates with the existing electric grid infrastructure, built into public lampposts, bypassing the prohibitive costs of new infrastructure.

In a nutshell, the Voltpost solution seeks to resolve the shortage of EV chargers. The absence of widespread availability of EV chargers is believed to ultimately prevent wider use of EV vehicles. As a result, the proportion of fossil fuel burned by cars (which produce 10% of global carbon dioxide emissions) remains insufficiently abated, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions, which are assumed to cause global warming.

The cable mechanism invention for the Voltpost Air EV charger is recited in a Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) patent application, filed at the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The WIPO patent application WO2024/59088A2, titled Cable mechanism for EV charging station, was published on March 21, 2024. The inventors on record are Chiraag, M. HEBBAR and Alejandro, Enrique VALLEJO, both from California.

Below, the extracted patent Figure 1 depicts a cable mechanism, embodying the invention. According to the invention, the Figure 1 comprises a cable mechanism 100, comprising a housing 130 with an energy input opening 132, and an exit opening 131 (for the charging cable 101). Inside the housing, a motor assembly 110 and a pulley assembly 120 operate a charging cable 101, which has a free end 102, a fixed end 105, a portion 104 in between engaged with the pulley assembly 120, and a portion 103 that leads the charging cable up or down. The pulley assembly 120 moves from a first to a second position to lower the charging cable 101, and from a second to a first position to retract the charging cable. The fixed end of the charging cable 105 is connected to the electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) 140. A controller 150 synchronizes the motor 110 drive with the pulley assembly 120 to maintain tension and prevent buckling of the charging cable 101. The free end of the charging cable 102 has a user-control unit 155 with buttons to raise and lower the charging cable 101.

Below, the patent Abstract.

The cable mechanism dispenses and retracts a cable having a free and a fixed end. The cable mechanism includes a motor assembly configured to engage a leading portion of the cable to dispense or retract the cable and a pulley assembly configured to engage a following portion of the cable. The following portion may be arranged between the leading portion and the fixed end of the cable. The pulley assembly may be movable relative to the motor assembly between a first position and a second position. Moving the pulley assembly from the first position to the second position may dispense the cable, and moving the pulley assembly from the second position to the first position may retract the cable.
[Abstract WO2024/59088A2]

Reference
Voltpost
https://www.voltpost.com/

Thursday, April 9, 2026

Oh, patents! Voltpost EV chargers - Generation 1.

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Voltpost Inc., is a company that has found a way to resolve the shortages of Electric Vehicle chargers, without significantly disrupting existing grid infrastructure. This invention is significant, considering that the installation of new grid infrastructure is precisely the problematic situation that has been hindering the large-scale deployment of EV chargers.

Indeed, the solution is a bit like an elephant in the room. Voltpost is simply tapping into the existing grid infrastructure found in public lampposts. They have created lamppost wraparound solutions that take just a couple of hours to install in what they call “charging deserts”.

In Voltpost’s own terms:

“Voltpost retrofits lampposts into a modular and upgradable electric vehicle charging platform. This provides people convenient and affordable charging access while reducing the cost, timing, and footprint of chargers.”

Generation 1, mobile-operated, Voltpost EV chargers wrap around the base of lampposts with one or several retractable cables for charging electric of hybrid vehicles (see image below).

The Voltpost invention won a Time Magazine 2025 Best Innovation Award. The inventors have also been awarded several US patents, both utility patents for the how the Voltpost invention works, and design patents for the ornamental features of the Voltpost invention. For example the US utility patent USD1089074S1, titled Electric vehicle charging station, was awarded to Joern Vicari, Jeffrey Borges Jones, Yang Cheng, Yerin Cho, Chiraag M Hebbar and Alejandro Enrique Vallejo, on June 20th, 2024. The patent was then assigned to Voltpost Inc., in New York, NY.

Below, the patent Figure 1, depicting the primary components of an electric vehicle charging system 100. The system is intended to transform a standard street lamppost 105 into a smart electric vehicle (EV) charging station 110. The EV charging station 110 surrounds the base of the lamppost 105 with a modular base protective unit 125, and a user-interactive technical unit 140, originally into which the user can plug a charging cable 135, to charge a vehicle 120 (electric or hybrid). The EV charging station 110 is managed by a mobile app 115, installed on a mobile device such as a smartphone 195, enabling a cloud-based charge management system 200 for charging the vehicle 120. Alternatively, a Bluetooth connection can exist between the EV charging unit 110 and the mobile device 195.

Below the patent abstract of the invention:

A system with a technical unit having modules that, when assembled, surround a periphery of a lamppost, at least one of the modules having an electric charging function capability, a non-charging function capability, or a communications function capability. The system may be charging station for charging an electric vehicle from a power source inside the lamppost may include a base unit to surround the base of the lamppost. [Abstract USD1089074S1]

Refererence

Voltpost

https://www.voltpost.com/

Tuesday, March 31, 2026

Salvador Dali - Poetry of America (1948) aka Cosmic Athletes

In Poetry of America, aka Cosmic Athletes, Savador Dali, explores “American culture, consumerism, and racial tensions through dreamlike imagery, featuring American football players, a giant Coca-Cola bottle, and a map of Africa” (Figuerez Ortiz, 2015).

This surrealist masterpiece was created during World War II when the artist was exiled in the United States. The Coca-Cola bottle depicted in Poetry of America is the first recorded instance of the iconic bottle in art. Below, an image of the painting with an image of the Coca-Cola bottle detail.

Note

*Poesia de America. Los atletas cósmicos.

References

- Dali, S. (1948). Poetry of America. Oil on canvas. Permanent Collection at the Dalí Theatre-Museum (Teatro-Museo Dalí), in Figueres, Spain.

- Figueres Ortiz, Pau (March 8, 2015). Salvador Dali - Poetry of America (1943). Blog: The Revolution will be sponsored.

https://larevolucionserapatrocinada.wordpress.com/2015/03/08/salvador-dali-poetry-of-america-1943/

Monday, March 30, 2026

Robert Rauschenberg - Coca-Cola Plan (1958)

The Coca-Cola Plan is part of Rauschenberg’s “Combines” series (1954-64), where he not only blurred the lines between sculpture and painting, but also incorporated everyday objects into art, elevating and transforming them into artistic statements. According to the Robert Rauschenger Foundation, the artist “sought to act in the 'gap' between art and life, valuing chance and collaboration across disciplines.”

The Coca-Cola Plan is a vertical trophy-sized wall piece, comprising a narrow rectangular wood frame, with three levels. The top level is covered with brown paper and the “PLAN” in writing. The middle level, open in the back, houses three vintage green glass Coca-Cola bottles. One of the bottles is dripping with thick oil paint in red and orange. Another bottle has a smear of brown and blue-green paint, and the center bottle has no paint. The third level, closed in the back, has a large round carved newel staircase cap. Two metal wings are attached on each side of the wooden frame, at the middle level.

The Coca-Cola Plan is a piece among others in the "Combines" series that is credited with “forever changing the course of American Abstract Expressionism”, removing intense emotions, to engage with everyday life and objects.

References
Rauschenberg, R. (1958) Coca-Cola Plan – Pencil on paper, oil on three Coca-Cola bottles, wood newel cap, and cast metal wings on wood structure. Permanent Collection at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles, CA.
https://www.moca.org/collection/work/coca-cola-plan

Robert Rauschenberg Foundation

https://www.rauschenbergfoundation.org/foundation

Sunday, March 29, 2026

Andy Warhol - Green Coca-Cola bottles (1962)

According to the Whitney Museum of Art in New York City, where Andy Warhol's famous Green Coca-Cola Bottles (1962) are located:

"Andy Warhol’s Green Coca-Cola Bottles (1962) is a defining Pop Art piece representing mass consumerism, conformity, and democratic access to consumer goods. Using silkscreen printing, the painting features 112 identical, bright green Coke bottles on a white background, highlighting the ubiquity and standardization of American culture".

According to Andy Warhol:

“What's great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you know that the president drinks Coke, Liz Taylor drinks Coke, and just think, you can drink Coke, too. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the Cokes are the same and all the Cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the president knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it.” (Warhol, 1975)

References
-Warhol, A. (1975). The Philosophy of Andy Warhol. New York, NY: Harcourt Publishing Company.
-Warhol, A. (1962). Green Coca Cola Bottles. Painting, acrylic, screenprint, and graphite pencil on canvas. The Whitney Museum. Of American Art, New York, NY.
https://whitney.org/collection/works/3253

Tuesday, March 24, 2026

Oh, patents! The lightweight PET Coca-Cola bottle

In an effort to address the global plastic pollution crisis*, The Coco-Cola Company has been steadily producing lighter PET**plastic bottles (Coca-Cola, 2024). The lighter bottles have new shapes allowing to produce the bottles using less plastic, while still guaranteeing beverage quality. Thus, over the course of 10 years, Coca-Cola bottles have steadily decreased weight, from 27 grams to a breakthrough 18.5 gram bottle, rolled out in 2024, for Coca-Cola soft drinks (Coke, Fanta and Sprite), in both the United States and Canada.

The reduced weight of the bottles has a significant impact. The unused plastic amounts to 800 million bottles less each year. Additionally, production of the lightweight bottle reduces the carbon footprint of bottle manufacturing by an amount equivalent to removing 17,000 cars off the road. Thus, the lightweight PET soft drink bottle is consistent with the goals that The Coca-Coca Company has set forth for a World without Waste.

The ornamental properties of the lightweight bottles, or the way the bottles look, are patented designs. For example, the US design patents USD760084S1, USD792229S1 and USD796332S1, all three titled Bottle, respectively, correspond to the Coke, Fanta and Sprite lightweight bottle designs. However, the patent Figures (see below) for the three bottle designs each have broken lines at the base, indicating that the design patents do not cover the base of the bottles. Indeed, the base of the bottles is petaloid, which is an invention in its own right that allows gas to expand within the bottles, without stress-cracking the bottles, and by the same token enables the bottles to remain level and upright on a shelf. Thus, the petaloid base of the bottles is covered, for example, by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) utility patent WO2016019318A1, titled Lightweight base for carbonated beverage packaging. A patent that is part of a large family of patents, covering the petaloid base of the lightweight bottles.

Below, the patent Figures for three of the lightweight bottle designs, excluding coverage of the base. The three patent Figures are shown above an image of the marketed lightweight PET bottles for Coca-Cola, Fanta, and Sprite soft drinks.

USD796332S1

USD760084S1

USD792229S1

Note
*Each year more than 400 million tons of plastic are produced. In the USA, only an estimated 27% of plastic is recycled. Worldwide, 10% of plastic is recycled. As a result, approximately 2000 trucks of plastic are dumped into the ocean every day. Thus, Each year 19 to 23 million tons of plastic leak into aquatic systems, polluting rivers, lakes and oceans (UNEP, 2025).

** PET = polyethylene terephthalate

References
UNEP (July 1, 2025). Plastic Pollution. UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
https://www.unep.org/plastic-pollution
Coca-Cola (March 28, 2024). Coca-Cola North America Debuts New Lightweight PET Bottle Designs. The Coca-Cola Company website.
https://www.coca-colacompany.com/media-center/coca-cola-north-america-debuts-new-lightweight-pet-bottle-designs

Friday, March 20, 2026

Oh, patents! Tracking the universal refPET Coca-Coca bottle

Launched in 2018 in Brazil, the universal, re-usable plastic Coca-Cola bottle goes beyond recycling. This Coca-Cola bottle is called "universal" because it is both a multiple-brand and multiple-use (vs. single-use) product. In Brazil, the universal bottle is a 1L RefPET* (one-liter, refillable polyethylene terephthalate) plastic bottle, that is re-usable across soft drink brands (e.g., Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta and Fresca) up to 25 times, before it is recycled**.

Thus, the universal bottle enters a circular economy, with consumers using the small deposit fee on the RefPet bottle to reduce the price of a new purchase, each time a REfPet bottle is returned. The returned RefPet bottles are then sent to a processing facility that washes, sanitizes, refills, and relabels the ReftPet bottles before distributing them anew.

However, for the reuse system to work—for bottles to be retired at the right time, when damaged or no longer serviceable—the life cycle, or the number of times the bottles are refilled, has to be tracked. The following patent recites a QR code invention designed to remedy the difficulties of traditional inventory tracking on labels or with two-dimensional codes. Indeed, labels are changed with each universal reuse, and some labels peel off, even before the bottles are processed for reuse. Likewise, the RefPet bottle-sterilization process tends to eventually make bottles hazy, and thus erases any two-dimensional codes printed on the bottles.

The invention recited in the US utility patent US12269646B2, titled Systems and methods for tracking refillable packages filled at a bottling facility, comprises a radio-frequency identification tag (RFID), laser-engraved on the bottle, a radio frequency identification reader, and a data processing system in communication with the reader to store and process the information extracted from the RFID tag. Thus, for each rPET bottle, the complete history of the bottle becomes available, in addition to other types of information that the manufacturer may want to track (e.g., origin, stress cracking, or even promotions, games and raffle codes). RFID information might also be combined with information from other technologies such as vending or drop-off machines, or those technologies detecting fill and pressure, at the processing centers.

The extracted patent Figure 3 is shown below, together with a close-up image of an engraved QR Code, on a marketed RefPET universal bottle. The patent Figure 3 is a plan view of a refillable package 10, in this case a bottle 15, with an RFID tag 120 appearing on the bottle’s neck 35. The bottle comprises a base 20, with a rounded concave shape 50, a waist 25, a label panel 30, a mouth 40 and a closure 45. Three universal RefPET marketed bottles (empty, Coca-Cola and Fanta) are also included below.

Notes

* ReftPet or rPet

**Since the universal bottle was first introduced in Brazil, in 2018, the reusable model is estimated to replace 200 million single-use bottles, per year (PackingEurope, 2020; MacArthur, 2021). Success in Brazil prompted the reuse system to swiftly expand across Latin America to Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay (GS1, 2024). More recently, in 2024, the reusable system was rolled out in South Africa, where the universal bottle is a 2L rPET program (Coca-Cola Africa, 2023). Similar programs have also rolled out in Western Europe, in the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Germany (Laird, 2020; Ross, 2023).

References

-Coca-Coca Africa (Feb. 9, 2023). Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa expands roll-out of 2L returnable PET bottles to reduce plastic waste in Free State and Northern Cape. Coca-Cola Beverages Africa.

https://tinyurl.com/ysnp5cj9

-GS1 (2024). Coca-Cola’s reusable, refillable bottles benefit from innovative QR Codes powered by GS1. GS1.

https://www.gs1.org/system/files/case-study-gs1-brazil-coca-cola.pdf

-Laird, K. (Sept. 8, 2020). Coca-Cola forges ahead with recycled PET bottle commitment in Western Europe. Plastic News.

https://www.plasticsnews.com/news/coca-cola-forges-ahead-recycled-pet-bottle-commitment-western-europe/

-Ross, H. (Aug. 4, 2023). Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) Collaborates with Petainer to Develop 'Universal refPET Bottle'. Petainer.

https://www.petainer.com/news/coca-cola-europacific-partners-ccep-collaborates-with-petainer-develop-universal-refpet-bottle

-MacArthur, E. (Oct. 7, 2021). A reusable drinks bottle design for multiple brands: Universal Bottle. Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/circular-examples/a-reusable-drinks-bottle-design-for-multiple-brands-universal-bottle

-Packaging Europe (Feb. 11, 2020). Reuse: a closer look at Coca-Cola Brazil’s unique returnable bottle initiative. PackagingEurope.com

https://packagingeurope.com/reuse-a-closer-look-at-coca-cola-brazils-unique-returnable-bottle-initiative/1583.article

Saturday, March 14, 2026

Oh, patents! The Coca-Cola bottle (3)

A third Coca-Cola bottle design patent, USD105529, titled Design for a bottle, was issued on August 3, 1937, to Eugene Kelly, a citizen of the United States, residing in Toronto, Canada, who then assigned the patent to The Coca-Cola Company, in Wilmington, Delaware. This was the last design patent filed for Coca-Cola glass bottles, before the bottle was trademarked, in 1960, and therefore protected from use by others for as long as the trademark was renewed and fees paid.

The 1937 Coca-Cola bottle design patent was issued upon expiration of the 1923 Christmas Day patent, in other words, exactly 14 years later. Experts have noted that the patent drawing for the 1937 bottle appears exaggerated, almost caricatured, presumably so that the design could appear different enough to be patentable (Lockhart & Porter, 2010). Thus, the 1937 design patent depicted the distinctive bottle contours as almost elliptical, to clearly differentiate the Coca-Cola bottle from any other bottle on the market. The patent design also depicted a space of interrupted contours, around the bottle, reserved for the Coca-Cola embossed logo, which is not shown, again to protect the secrecy of the design.

Below, the extracted 1937 Coca-Cola bottle design patent, Figure 1, depicting a side view of the Coca-Cola bottle design. The patent drawing appears next to a Georgia Green marketed embodiment of the design, showing the embossed CocaCola logo and patent number D105529 in the reserved space. The location where the bottle was produced is embossed on the bottom. As also shown below in this case, the bottle was produced in Roanoke, Va.

References

The Coca-Cola Company: The History of the Coca-Cola Contour Bottle. The Coca-Cola Company website.

https://www.coca-colacompany.com/about-us/history/the-history-of-the-coca-cola-contour-bottle

Lockhart, B. and B. Porter (Sept- Oct., 2010). The dating game: Tracking the Hobble-Skirt Coca-Cola Bottle. Society for Historical Archeology.

https://secure-sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/coca-cola.pdf

Thursday, March 12, 2026

Oh, patents! The Coca-Cola bottle (2)

A second Coca-Cola bottle design patent, USD63657, titled Design for a bottle, was awarded to Chapman J. Root, CEO of the Root Glass Company, on December 25, 1923. Because the patent was granted on Christmas Day, this slightly thinner Coca-Cola bottle design became known for a while as the “Christmas bottle”.

As for the first Coca-Cola bottle design patent, depiction of the embossed Coca-Cola logo was omitted to protect the secrecy of the design. In the second patent, however, the space for embossing cuts the emblematic contouring. The bottle contours that could be “felt”, and that served to distinguish Coco-Cola bottles from all others.

Below, the extracted patent Figure 1 showing a perspective view of the thinner Coca-Cola bottle design. The patent figure appears next to an image of a Georgia Green marketed embodiment of the design, showing the embossed logo and the patent date. This Christmas bottle was produced in Jackson, OH, per the embossed information, on the bottom of the bottle, also appearing below.

Reference
The Coca-Cola Company: The History of the Coca-Cola Contour Bottle. The Coca-Cola Company website.
https://www.coca-colacompany.com/about-us/history/the-history-of-the-coca-cola-contour-bottle

Tuesday, March 10, 2026

Oh, patents! The Coca-Cola bottle (1)

Established in 1886, in Atlanta, Georgia, The Coca-Cola Company is 140 years old. Although the Coca-Cola beverage formula was never patented, to prevent imitation once patent protection had lapsed, the company holds hundreds of patents. No less important than formula were the Coca-Cola bottles. Particularly when the sale of Coca-Cola soda from soda fountains also became franchised to bottling operations across the United States, as early as 1900.

Clearly, Coca-Cola bottles had to be produced, which could be differentiated from all the competing soda bottles on the market. Especially when labels would just peel off if the bottles were sold out of large barrels of ice water. Or when competitors used similar soda names, such as Toka-Cola or Koka-Nola, which could be confused with the Coca-Cola logo embossed on plain glass bottles.

Thus, according to The Coca-Cola Company’s lore, the company launched a contest, challenging several of the Coca-Cola bottling operations in the United States to come up with packaging “so distinctive that you would recognize it by feel in the dark or lying broken on the ground.” (The Coca-Cola Company)

The winner of the contest was a bottling operation in the Midwest, in Terre Haute, Indiana, called the Root Glass Company. Thus, the first Coca-Cola bottle design patent, USD48160, titled Design for a bottle or similar article, was awarded in 1915 to Alexander Samuelson, who worked at the Root Glass Company. Inspired by cacao pods (unrelated to "coca" leaves) , Samuelson gave ribbing to the bottle, and a shape similar to cacao pods. In turn, the contoured shape of the bottle gave it a unique feel.

The bottle was produced with green glass, which became known as Georgia Green. The bottles were then produced at six different bottling operations in the US, with the city of the bottling operation embossed at the base of the bottle.

Below, the extracted patent Figure 1, showing a perspective view of the contoured bottle design. The image of a historic 1915, Georgia Green, prototype Coca-Cola bottle also appears below. The bottle is embossed with the Coca-Cola logo, and Atlanta, GA on the bottom, indicating it was produced there.

Tuesday, February 24, 2026

Oh, patents! Maria Grazia Chiuri Dior Book Tote

Inspired by a 1967 Marc Bohan* drawing found in the Dior archives, Maria Grazia Chiuri,** designed the Dior Book Tote. The Dior Book Tote was launched in 2018.

The US design patent USD1028499S1, titled Handbag, was awarded on May 28, 2024, to Maria Grazia Chiuri for the Dior Book Tote Paris Map design in tapestry. The Applicant was Christian Dior Couture, in Paris, France.

Since the Dior Book Tote first appeared on the runway, the handbag has been re-invented many times, in ornate tapestries that require about 40 hours and 1500 stitches to produce. Below, the extracted patent Figure 1.1, showing the Paris Map design in tapestry, together with a series of marketed embodiments of the Dior Book Totes. The series illustrates the variety of Dior Book totes produced with different tapestry designs.

Figure 1.1. USD1028499S1

Dior Book Tote - Hibiscus

Dior Book Tote - Mille Fleurs
(Dior Cruise 2021)

Dior Book Tote - Phoenix

Dior Book Tote - Black Leopard
Mitzah Bricard-inspired (Fall 2021)

Dior Book Tote - Toile de Jouy Tropicalia

Dior Book Tote - Butterflies

Dior Book tote - Butterflies
(Fall/Winter 2018)

Dior Book Tote - Zodiac

Dior Book Tote - Dior Oblique in burgundy

Note

*Marc Bohan (1926-2023), Creative Director at the House of Dior from 1960 to 1989.
**Maria Grazia Chiuri, first woman Creative Director at the House of Dior from 1997 to 2025.

References

Dior Tote Bags

https://www.dior.com/en_us/fashion/womens-fashion/bags/totes-bags
Pender, W. (Aug. 11, 2025). Why the Dior Book Tote Remains One of Fashion’s Most Iconic Bags. What goes around comes around - WGACA.
https://tinyurl.com/bdzcykz4
Williams, A. (Sept. 9, 2023). Marc Bohan, Designer Who Oversaw the Dior Look for Decades, Dies at 97. NYTimes.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/09/fashion/marc-bohan-dead.html

Sunday, February 22, 2026

Oh, patents! Maria Grazia Chiuri Dior Saddle Bag

In 2018, Maria Grazia Chiuri* gave the Y2k Galliano Dior Saddle Handbag a second wind. She made the Saddle handbag a bit larger so it would accommodate cell phones, and she provided a crossbody strap. The Chiuri Saddle Bag was also produced with different materials, more colorful and ethnic, fringed and beaded.

The US design patent, USD1068257S1, titled Handbag was awarded to Maria Grazia Chiuri for the Saddle Bag on April 1, 2025. The Applicant was Christian Dior Couture in Paris, France. The patented ornamental design covered the Paris Map print on leather.

Below, the extracted patent Figure 1.1 and a few of the many marketed embodiments of the Chiuri Saddle Bag, in fabric and leather. Each Saddle Bag displays the iconic dangling “D” charm, and CD letter handle rings on each side.

Figure 1.1 USD1068257S1

Dior Saddle Bag - Beaded and fringed.

Note

*Maria Grazia Chiuri, first woman Creative Director at the House of Dior from 2016 to 2025.

References

Dior Handbags

https://tinyurl.com/mryhujb4
De Klerk, A. and N. Hughes (June 22, 2024). The History of the Hero: The Dior Saddle Bag. Harpers Bazaar.

https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/fashion/a42118540/dior-saddle-bag/

Friday, February 20, 2026

Oh, patents! John Galliano Dior Saddle Handbag

The John Galliano* Dior Saddle Handbag was the Y2K (Year 2000) "hit" bag, and one of Galliano’s greatest accomplishments (De Klerk & Hughes, 2024). The Galliano Dior Saddle Handbag was awarded the US design patent, USD449737S, titled Saddle Handbag, on October 30th, 2001. The patent was assigned to Christian Dior, S.A., in Paris, France.

Below, the extracted patent Figure 1, showing a front elevation view of the Saddle Handbag. Next to the patent figure, an embodiment of the Dior Saddle Handbag in denim with beige leather and gold hardware.

Note
*John Galliano was Creative Director at the House of Dior from 1997 to 2011.

References

Dior Handbags

https://tinyurl.com/mryhujb4
De Klerk, A. and N. Hughes (June 22, 2024). The History of the Hero: The Dior Saddle Bag. Harpers Bazaar.

https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/fashion/a42118540/dior-saddle-bag/

Wednesday, February 18, 2026

Lady Dior Art

Since 2016, each year, Dior has commissioned about 10 artists from around the world to reinvent the Lady Dior handbag. In limited editions of 100, the Lady Dior Art handbags are rolled out at the Paris flagship store, mid-October. Commissioned artists have included such superstars as Judy Chicago, Faith Ringgold and Joana Vasconcelos, together with young emerging artists.

Unexpectedly, the Lady Dior Art project appeared as interesting to artists, as it was for collectors and the public. In fact, this was an opportunity for artists to showcase their art in another medium, with a utilitarian component, to a new end user, outside of a gallery context. Additionally, the art pieces could cross generations as “hand-me-downs”. Indeed, very few artists ever refused to participate (De Klerk, 2024; Diderich, 2025).

Below, a sample of the dazzling and fabulously re-imagined Lady Dior Art handbags, created by 8 of the 99 commissioned artists, to date.