Doja Cat caused a mild stir on Twitter Monday night when she showed up to the iHeartRadio Music Awards red carpet holding what appeared to be a Holy Bible purse in the crook of her arm.
Just a few weeks earlier at Paris Fashion Week, style provocateur Julia Fox carried one of her own to the LVMH Prize event. Jazzelle Zanaughtti, the experimental social media star known as UglyWorldWide, is also a fan, having posted hers on Instagram.
Doja Cat wearing Aylah Gallardo's Bible clutch to the 2023 iHeart Radio Awards.
The boxy religious accessory is the work of Aylah Gallardo, an emerging Filipina designer based out of Los Angeles. Listed at $1,355, it's currently the only item currently featured on her website. Each bag is repurposed from vintage Bibles and includes silk lining, a heavy-duty zipper with doubles pulls and an interior pocket. It measures 8 3/4" length x 5 3/4” width x 3” height.
"I drew inspiration [for the bag] from my childhood and the strong and religious women that raised me," Gallardo told Highsnobiety. "My intention is to design like an artist where my pieces serve as art that is open for interpretation and even criticism. I want to create designs that people have an opinion on and have a natural reaction to."
Julia Fox wearing Aylah Gallardo's Bible clutch to the LVMH Prize event in Paris.
Stylists Brett Alan Nelson and Briana Andalore pulled the bags for Doja and Fox, respectively. Gallardo drew inspiration for the bag from her teen years attending an all-girls Catholic high school and a vintage Bible she's owned since then.
"The main challenge was finding the right craftsman that believed in the idea as most had rejected the idea of deconstructing a Bible," she told outlet. "I believe that having the best quality is the standard, and it definitely took a few rounds of samples to perfect The Bible Bag."
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