The new Panthère de Cartier bag in French luxury brand Cartier’s latest Leather Goods launch combines fabulous jewellery expertise with sublime leather craftsmanship, highlighting the Maison’s bold creative spirit.
The Panthère de Cartier Bag – An Overview
If the panther were a bag, it would be this one – with its trapezoid shape, its finely grained leather and its jewel clasp which evokes the original and creative heritage of Jeanne Toussaint. She was the first to adopt the panther as her signature while she was creative director at Cartier in the 1940s. She created a sculptural panther, proud and magnetic that would become the emblem of Cartier jewellery.
The panther makes its mark on Cartier’s latest bag. Its signature is absolute. There is what we see immediately, the precious black speckled clasp that captures our attention and then what we don’t see, the idea of an imperceptible feline movement, a very slight undulation along the flap.
Everything is structured: shape, handles, gussets. This minimalist approach serves as a showcase for the clasp, a bangle featuring a streamlined and graphic panther head, created in close collaboration between Cartier’s design studio and its High Jewellery sculptors. It is to them that the panther owes its realism, the purity of its lines and the accuracy of its proportions.
This, therefore, is a panther with character that asserts its femininity and sophistication, the common denominators of this Grande Maison bag, which can be worn over the shoulder or carried by hand. It comes in two looks and two sizes, a small and a mini model, to be worn at any time and in any of the available colours: black, cherry red, green or pale pink.
All bags can be personalised by adding initials or a date; either hot-stamped in gold foil upon the bag or by engraving the interior mirror.
The Meeting Point of Craftsmanship
The Panthère bag was designed in the accessories design studio led by Marlin Yuson, its artistic director. This creative, bright and luminous laboratory and studio is located at the Cartier International headquarters in Paris, a centre of inspired and refined expression and creativity.
The most beautiful leathers and sophisticated metal pieces all pass through this exceptional location. To design the Panthère bag, Marlin Yuson relied on the jewellery expertise of Cartier’s workshops and on the choice of an exceptional leather – two criteria of excellence that determine the precious worth and elegance of the bag.
Jewellery Expertise
First, its buckle: its volume, C shape and profiling accentuated by each spot of black lacquer, are all in different sizes, which contribute to giving life and movement to the animal. This was the result of a joint effort between designer and jeweller that required a lot of back-and-forth communication and partnership, from the first mould to the final, perfect shape. Everything had to be vibrant and restore the panther’s vitality, whose every component is hand-polished to enhance its luminosity.
Leather Goods Expertise
Then there is the leather, with its wavy grained texture and sheen which called for very specific fine leather goods craftsmanship.
Originally, only the highest quality batches of calf leather were selected for their finest aspects. They are first washed and then tanned before undergoing an artisanal process made up of several stages, giving the leather a wavy grained effect called Palmelatto.
Firstly, a paper is applied to the surface of the leather using a fixing spray, then the skin is rolled up and dried so that the paper texture permeates the skin. When the paper is removed, it leaves a wavy print on the leather. Finally, a fixing spray is applied to the leather to protect it and render it scratch-resistant whilst providing a glossy effect.
A Responsible Approach
The Panthère bag reflects Cartier’s commitment to sustainable principles and practices.
This priority ensures the traceability of the origin of the leather, the respect of human resources throughout the supply chain and respect of the environment in the production of leather materials.
As such, Cartier sources its products mainly from within the European Union, working closely with its leather goods suppliers to ensure that they implement best practices.
The Panthère C de Cartier Bucket Bag
Jewellery buckle, bucket shape, shoulder strap: this is the new style equation for Cartier’s latest Panthère C bag.
Launched in 2021, the Panthère C de Cartier collection introduces a precious clasp in the shape of a capital C profiled with a panther’s head. Emblematic of the collection, it has now inspired Cartier to create the shoulder buckle for the bucket bag.
A true signature, this black-flecked jewellery buckle reflects Jeanne Toussaint’s original and creative heritage. At the end of the 1940s, she was the first to imagine a sculptural panther that would become emblematic of Cartier jewellery.
Intense and luminous, its presence magnetises the elegance of this bucket bag, whose clean, graphic shape Cartier highlights with saddle-stitching. An impeccable bag that can be worn across the body or slung over the shoulder with its adjustable panther buckle.
Two looks for two sizes, small or mini, to be adopted unconditionally in the chosen colours for this model: black or salt white.
In Focus: The Panthère de Cartier Bag
The Maison’s emblem makes its mark on the Panthère de Cartier bag.
It all starts with a delicate leather on which Cartier prints the fierce markings of its iconic animal. The bold imprint, designed by the Maison’s creative studios, takes the form of haute couture embossing that slashes across the bag.
This undulating effect, obtained by applying a hot printed mould to the leather, intensifies the motif through hemming, hollowing and shading. Working in perfect harmony with the gentle curvature of the flap, the clasp is a precious bangle with a black lacquer spotted panther head.
A symbol of style and character, the panther completely magnetises this new creation which can be worn over the shoulder or carried by hand and, for which, Cartier has selected an intense shade of green.
The Double de Panthère Bag
Precious and triumphant, the iconic panther frames the handle of the Maison’s latest bag.
Its powerful and symbolic presence is enhanced by Cartier in the form of a sculptural head, created in collaboration with one of the artisans from the Maison’s jewellery workshops.
Jewellery Accents
This sculptural panther is part of Cartier’s great creative tradition: an animal whose symbolism and elegance have reigned over the Maison’s creativity since its first appearance in 1914.
Now more than ever, the panther is an inexhaustible source of inspiration and its magnetism reflects on those who wear it. The shape of the bag takes inspiration from its feline rhythm, with a slight undulation spreading from the large, rounded side gussets.
The bag is available in two sizes, in black, plum or caramel, with the Maison’s signature embossed on the inside.