Story & heritage

The Paddington was introduced by Phoebe Philo at the Spring/Summer 2005 show, during her tenure as Chloé's creative director from 2001 to 2006. A slouchy, supple leather satchel hung with a functioning padlock, it became one of the first true "It" bags — selling out before it reached stores and carrying year-long waiting lists.

Chloé had only launched its first line of bags, small leather goods and shoes in 2002. The Paddington, arriving three years later, was the bag that turned a Parisian ready-to-wear house — founded in 1952 by Gaby Aghion on the idea of luxury prêt-à-porter — into a name people knew first for handbags. Under Chemena Kamali, creative director since 2023, the Paddington has been brought back to the collection.

Materials & craft

The Paddington is cut from soft, grained calfskin and finished with a heavy, oversized padlock in aged gold-tone metal, hung at the front on a leather strap with its own key. The body is deliberately unstructured, slouching under its own weight, and the seams are reinforced with rows of studs and buckled side straps. The padlock — which actually locks — became the design's instantly recognisable signature.

How to choose & style

The Paddington reads relaxed and a little undone by design — the slouch is the point, so it looks best carried softly in the hand or on the shoulder rather than held rigid. Black and tan are the most versatile; the padlock does all the talking, so the rest of a look can stay quiet. It is the rare archive icon that anchored Chloé's whole handbag identity, and it still looks unmistakably of its moment.