FLOAT 100 · Handbags · No. 59
Gucci Horsebit 1955
Two rings and a bar, borrowed from a horse's bridle in the 1950s, became Gucci's most recognizable piece of metal, and the bag named for the year it first appeared on a handbag became a house mainstay six decades later.
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- 77 of 100
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- Gucci, Florence; made in Italy
- The hardware
- The horsebit, a double ring and bar modeled on the metal of a horse's bridle
- Horsebit first used
- On Gucci loafers, in 1953 according to Gucci
- First on a bag
- 1955, on a structured top-handle style
- Modern Horsebit 1955
- Reissued under Alessandro Michele; dated to Cruise 2020 by one source and to 2020 by another
- This entry
- Horsebit 1955 shoulder bag in black leather with gold-tone hardware and strap studs
- Medium size (Gucci)
- 9.8 x 7 x 3.1 inches
- Gucci US price
- $3,550 for the medium in black leather, October 2026
- 2021 retail
- $2,350 in GG Supreme canvas, $2,690 in full leather
- First Gucci bag in Demetra
- An asymmetric Horsebit 1955, introduced in October 2023 with Billie Eilish
From the stable to the shoe to the bag
Guccio Gucci founded his company in Florence in 1921. Before that he had worked as a porter at the Savoy Hotel in London, where he saw how wealthy travelers lived and dressed. One account traces his taste for riding-inspired style to those years, because many of the Savoy's guests favored an equestrian look on and off the racecourse.
The horsebit is a small version of the metal rings on a horse's bridle. Gucci says the double ring and bar first appeared on a pair of loafers in 1953 and moved to a handbag two years later, in 1955. A UK fashion magazine agrees on the 1953 loafer and credits Guccio's sons Aldo, Rodolfo and Vasco, who used the motif as a tribute to their father's love of equestrian themes. Guccio died on January 2, 1953. An encyclopedia entry on the company dates the loafer's launch to 1952, so sources differ on the exact year of the shoe.
The 1955 bag was a structured top-handle style. The same magazine calls it 'demure.' The loafer later entered the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in 1985 and was reissued in 2013 as the Horsebit 1953.
Tom Ford and the oversized bit
Between the 1955 original and its modern return, the horsebit had another big moment. For his Autumn/Winter 2003 show, and again for Spring/Summer 2004, Tom Ford enlarged the hardware and made it the centerpiece of the Horsebit Chain bag. The bag came in studded exotic leathers and in GG monogram canvas.
When the Y2K look faded, so did that bag, until around 2019, when Kendall Jenner was seen with a secondhand Spring/Summer 2004 Horsebit Chain. Gucci reissued the Horsebit Chain for Autumn/Winter 2023. It is a different bag from the Horsebit 1955, but both are built around the same hardware.
Michele brings back the 1955
Alessandro Michele, Gucci's creative director from January 2015 to November 2022, revived archive designs one after another. One of the most successful was the Horsebit 1955; one handbag writer later referred to its 'astronomical success' when describing Gucci's next revivals, the Jackie and the Diana. One review says the modern bag was introduced for Cruise 2020 'with the same lines and forms from over six decades ago.' A UK fashion magazine dates the reissue to 2020. This page records both.
The shape is a flap shoulder bag with rounded bottom corners. A full horsebit sits on the front flap, and a half horsebit sits on each side. A tab slides under the horsebit and is held by a magnet. Inside are three gussets, with one zipped pocket and one open pocket. The leather strap adjusts with snap studs, and Gucci includes a small pouch with two extra button covers to hide the exposed studs when the strap is let out.
Gucci made the bag in GG Supreme canvas with leather trim and in full leather, and added seasonal limited editions. In October 2023 a reshaped, asymmetric Horsebit 1955 became the first Gucci bag made in Demetra, an animal-free material that Gucci says is 75 percent from plant-derived raw material sources and has been produced in Italy since 2021. Billie Eilish presented it.
How to read a black leather Horsebit 1955
Gucci's medium Horsebit 1955 in black leather is described as black textured leather with a vintage effect, with gold-tone hardware and a microfiber lining with a suede-like finish. It measures 9.8 x 7 x 3.1 inches and weighs about 1.8 pounds. The shoulder strap adjusts from a 9.8- to 11.8-inch drop, and the bag has a flap closure.
A 2021 review of the canvas version gave the same 9.8 x 7 x 3.1-inch size, but a strap drop of 9.8 to 17.7 inches. Gucci's current page lists the shorter range. The review also called the leather trim and canvas very durable after heavy use.
This entry's record points to a resale listing titled 'Horsebit 1955 Chain Shoulder bag Large Black Embossed Leather Gold Studs.' The seller describes black grained leather with gold hardware and studs, measuring 38 cm wide and 14 cm high, and places the bag in the 2000-2009 period. That date is earlier than any source gives for the Horsebit 1955 line, and its 38 cm width is far larger than the 9.8-inch medium Gucci lists. The listing therefore cannot be confirmed as a Horsebit 1955, and its $1,900 asking price is not recorded below.
Retail over time
In February 2021 the Horsebit 1955 shoulder bag in GG Supreme canvas cost $2,350 at Gucci, and the full-leather version cost $2,690. By October 2026 Gucci's US site listed the medium in black leather at $3,550 and the medium in GG Supreme canvas at $3,290. Small versions ranged from $2,750 to $3,550 depending on material.
Those are boutique prices for new bags, not resale results. No source consulted for this page reports an auction result or private sale for a Horsebit 1955.
The numbers
- Dimensions (medium, Gucci)
- 9.8 x 7 x 3.1 in
- Weight (medium, black leather)
- About 1.8 lb
- Material
- Black textured leather with a vintage effect; also GG Supreme canvas with leather trim
- Hardware
- Gold-tone horsebit on the front flap, half horsebit on each side, snap studs on the strap
- Strap drop
- 9.8-11.8 in on Gucci's current page; 9.8-17.7 in in a 2021 review
- Interior
- Three gussets, one zipped pocket and one open pocket; microfiber lining
- Production quantity
- Not stated by any source
Timeline
Guccio Gucci opens his business in Florence.
Gucci launches the Bamboo bag.
According to Gucci, the horsebit hardware first appears, on a pair of loafers.
Guccio Gucci dies.
Gucci opens its first US store, on Fifth Avenue in New York.
The horsebit is applied to a handbag for the first time, a structured top-handle style.
The Gucci horsebit loafer enters the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
Tom Ford's Autumn/Winter 2003 show introduces the oversized Horsebit Chain bag.
The loafer is reissued as the Horsebit 1953.
Alessandro Michele becomes Gucci's creative director.
Kendall Jenner is seen with a secondhand 2004 Horsebit Chain bag.
The Horsebit 1955 returns under Michele (dated to Cruise 2020 by one source, to 2020 by another).
A review lists the canvas Horsebit 1955 at $2,350 and the full-leather version at $2,690.
Michele steps down at Gucci.
Gucci introduces a Horsebit 1955 made in Demetra, its first bag in the animal-free material.
Gucci lists the medium Horsebit 1955 in black leather at $3,550.
The world in 1955
The Salk polio vaccine receives full approval from the US Food and Drug Administration.
Albert Einstein dies.
The Asian-African Conference opens in Bandung, Indonesia.
Eight Communist Bloc countries sign the Warsaw Pact.
Eighty-three people are killed in a crash at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Disneyland opens in Anaheim, California.
Rosa Parks is arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, starting the Montgomery bus boycott.
Price record
| Date | Price | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| Feb 10, 2021 | $2,350 | Asking price, not a saleGucci retail price, Horsebit 1955 shoulder bag in GG Supreme canvas with leather trim. |
| Feb 10, 2021 | $2,690 | Asking price, not a saleGucci retail price, Horsebit 1955 shoulder bag in full leather. |
| Oct 1, 2026 | $3,550 | Asking price, not a saleGucci US boutique price, Horsebit 1955 medium shoulder bag in black leather. |
This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.
By reference price, Gucci Horsebit 1955 is number 77 of 100 in the handbags entries of the FLOAT 100. 19 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (59 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.
Did you know
- The horsebit appeared on Gucci shoes two years before it appeared on a Gucci bag.
- The Gucci horsebit loafer has been in the Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection since 1985.
- Gucci ships the bag with two spare button covers to hide the strap studs.
- A reshaped, asymmetric Horsebit 1955 was the first Gucci bag ever made in Demetra, an animal-free material.
- Tom Ford supersized the same hardware for his 2003 Horsebit Chain bag, a different bag that Gucci reissued in 2023.
- Guccio Gucci once worked as a porter at the Savoy Hotel in London.
How this page is made
- The figure
- One reference price, shown with its own kind. FLOAT does not average it with anything or adjust it for time.
- Realized or not
- A realized price is a completed sale. An asking price, an estimate and a price-guide value are not sales, and are labeled as such wherever they appear.
- The story
- Researched from published records and checked fact by fact. Updated Oct 1, 2026.
- Archive
- Oct 5, 2026