This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on January 5, 2016.

GUCCI’s creative director Alessandro Michele hasn’t had too long to get comfortable in his chair after taking over from Frida Giannini, yet, he’s already designed an it bag for the respected Italian fashion label. The Dionysus is made from coated canvas, hand-finished by skilled artisans in the label’s Florentine workshop. Built with an accordion structure, this bag is fitted with three compartments and suede-trimmed pockets — ideal for stowing anything from business cards to blusher. The sliding chain strap can be worn multiple ways, changing between a shoulder and a top handle bag.

The bag is known for its striking double tiger-head closure, which alludes to the Greek god Dionysus who according to myth is said to have transformed himself into a tiger to carry a young nymph across the river which then became known as the Tigris. Made from a variety of materials, the Dionysus bag has quickly become one of Gucci’s most sought after new designs. 

Last month, the Dionysus Milan was launched as an exclusive to the store in Italy’s fashion capital. It features the distinctive GG Supreme material with its contemporary take on the Gucci G pattern. This material acts literally as a background canvas on which decorative patches have been attached — butterflies, flowers and a heart — thus customising the bag.

Following up from the launch of the Dionysus Milan, Gucci now presents a whole range of special edition handbags to commemorate eight other cities across the world. The GG coated canvas material of the Milan bag remains, and functions as a background for embroidered decorations which are distinguished with each city. The London version has a snake and roses, for example, while the while a starfish and dragonflies appear on the Dubai bag. 

Within each bag is an embroidered leather patch displaying a bee motif and the name of the city to which it is dedicated. These patches are in different colours to indicate its ‘nationality’ — rose for Tokyo, aqua for Rome, burgundy for Hong Kong, white for Paris, red for Shanghai and blue for London. 

The limited edition bags are already in store, but only at the flagships in the cities that the bags are created for — Rome, New York, London, Paris, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Dubai.