Decoding the First Ladies’ Handbag Table at the Fostering the Future Together Global Coalition Summit

This week, first lady Melania Trump hosted the inaugural Fostering the Future Together Global Coalition Summit, gathering delegates and first spouses from 45 nations in Washington, DC. Though the event’s intended focus was bettering access to education and technology for children worldwide, two scenes from the two-day meeting have jostled for the public’s attention: the FLOTUS’s dramatic entrance with a humanoid robot, and the eye-popping tableaux of handbags owned by the partners of world leaders.

The first-spouse handbag table, photographed by political influencer Link Lauren, was a summit in its own right. There was representation from both Karl Lagerfeld- and Matthieu Blazy-era Chanel: a new Chanel 25 in black grained calfskin; a quilted flap bag in cream-colored lambskin; and a small lambskin shopper. There were at least three Hermès bags, too, including a black Niloticus lizard Birkin 20 (belonging to Ecuador’s Lavinia Valbonesi), another Birkin, and a Kelly handbag.

Photo: Courtesy of Link Lauren

Also on the table: a plum-colored Gancini chain mini bag from Ferragamo (owned by Panama’s Maricel de Mulino) and a Saint Laurent Sac de Jour tote in burgundy croc, with a yellow and cream printed scarf around its handle. More affordable models included a (now sold-out) Brandon Blackwood Kendrick trunk bag in baby blue croc-embossed suede and a pink Michael Kors bag (now on sale). France’s Brigitte Macron, for her part, brought along a Lady Dior Voyageur wallet.

If the display seemed a little extravagant, consider that designer handbags have long had a place in the first lady’s wardrobe. Judith Leiber’s crystal-studded minaudières were in regular rotation among the likes of Mamie Eisenhower, Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush, Hillary Clinton, and Laura Bush over the years—many of them now part of the collection at the Smithsonian Institution—and Jackie Kennedy loved her Gucci G1244 so much that the Italian house renamed it in her honor in the ’70s.

In fact, that hobo-style bag (which Kennedy was often photographed using to shield herself from paparazzi) ushered in a new era of softer and much more versatile handbags for women everywhere. Other go-tos for Kennedy included the Hermès Trim, Chanel’s iconic Chanel 2.55 (to go with her tweed suits), and various Valentino bags. Michelle Obama, on the other hand, favored a high-low mix, carrying the Givenchy Horizon bag one day and a top-handle purse from Zac Zac Posen the next.

Melania Trump has taken to wearing more American designers during her husband’s second term, including Wes Gordon, Adam Lippes, Ralph Lauren (for her White House portrait), and Thom Browne (for the Fourth of July celebrations last year). Still, she’s retained a penchant for Europe’s luxury accessories, from Dior to Dolce & Gabbana and Hermès. (Trump was, probably, the first FLOTUS to cross the White House threshold toting a Birkin.)