FLOAT 100 · Handbags · No. 84
Saint Laurent Sac de Jour Medium
Hedi Slimane's 'bag of the day' gave Saint Laurent a structured, padlocked work tote that every model and pop star seemed to carry in 2013, and the Medium, softened by his successor, is the version built to carry a whole working day.
- Year
- current
- Maker
- Saint Laurent
- By price in handbags
- 74 of 100
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Create a free account- Maker
- Saint Laurent, Paris
- Designer
- Hedi Slimane, creative director 2012-2016; the Medium in supple leather introduced under Anthony Vaccarello
- Introduced
- 2013 (the Sac de Jour line); the supple Medium arrived for Spring 2017
- This entry
- Sac de Jour Medium in grained calfskin, black
- Name
- Sac de Jour means 'bag of the day'
- Size (maker)
- 14.1 x 10.6 x 7.6 inches
- Hardware
- Light bronze brass; detachable padlock in a leather case; five metal feet
- Lining
- Suede
- Made in
- Italy
- Retail
- $3,900 at Saint Laurent in the U.S., October 2026 (supple grained leather, black)
A bag for every day
Hedi Slimane arrived at Yves Saint Laurent in March 2012, replacing Stefano Pilati, and immediately remade the house in his image. He dropped 'Yves' from the ready-to-wear label, ran his studio from Los Angeles rather than Paris, and showed his first collection under the new Saint Laurent name in September 2012.
The Sac de Jour followed in 2013. The name means 'bag of the day,' and the brief was a bag that could go from day to night: a structured, rectangular top-handle tote with accordion sides, a belt across the front held by snap tabs, and a small padlock hanging in a leather case. Within two years a leading handbag writer was describing it as Slimane's modernized take on the classic Hermes Birkin shape.
Inside, the bag was divided into two compartments by a zipped pouch in the center, and metal studs on the base protected it from wear. Minimal branding on the front was enough for recognition.
Slimane, Vaccarello and the soft Medium
Slimane, born in Paris on July 5, 1968, had made his name as creative director of Dior Homme from 2000 to 2007. At Saint Laurent he was a polarizing figure: critics said he cheapened the house with rock-and-roll and youth culture, while admirers credited him with turning it back into a commercial powerhouse. His bag lines, led by the Sac de Jour and the Monogramme, quickly seemed required for anyone who wanted to look like a supermodel or a pop star.
Slimane's last show for the house was a surprise couture presentation in March 2016, and Kering confirmed his exit that April. Anthony Vaccarello, who had led Versus Versace, was confirmed as his successor. Slimane went on to Celine in 2018 and left in October 2024.
Vaccarello's first handbag release for the house was a reworked Sac de Jour. Shown with his debut Spring 2017 collection, the Supple Sac de Jour kept the front belt, accordion sides and brass padlock but softened the body so it slouched when carried. It came in grained calfskin or crocodile-embossed leather, and in January 2017 a U.S. department store listed the black Medium at $3,350.
How to identify the Medium
The Medium has always been the large end of the line, and its naming has shifted. A 2015 buying guide listed four sizes, Nano, Baby, Small and Large, with grained-leather prices of $1,990, $2,590, $2,750 and $3,490. By January 2017 the same publication was calling the biggest structured bag the medium and noted that Saint Laurent appeared to have removed it from its website as the supple version arrived.
Saint Laurent's current Sac de Jour Medium in supple grained leather, black, carries style ID 717446DTI0W1000. The house lists a suede lining, light bronze brass hardware, accordion sides, a detachable padlock in a leather case, an interior zipped pocket separating two compartments, five metal feet, snap tabs and a detachable shoulder strap. It measures 14.1 by 10.6 by 7.6 inches, with a 17.3-inch strap, and is made of calfskin in Italy.
Compared with the structured original, the supple bag was first made of double-sided leather rather than a separate lining, which lightened it, and showed exposed pegs at the front top corners where the gusset belts are fixed. Weight was a common complaint about the structured Large; some owners said they gave theirs up because it was heavy even when empty.
From It bag to fixture
The Sac de Jour was on celebrity arms almost from the day it launched, and by 2020 it was still being carried by the likes of Gigi Hadid and Kylie Jenner. It has since been made in suede, crocodile-embossed and python-embossed leather, patent, studded and calf-hair versions, and in a range of colors each season.
Under Vaccarello the bag has had quieter updates: suede versions, softer closures, and for Fall 2024 a relaxed version in supple vegetable-tanned leather with a suede lining, longer handles and an embossed rather than metal logo. Shot by Juergen Teller with Chloe Sevigny, that campaign made the Sac de Jour its centerpiece; the Large in vegetable-tanned leather retailed for $5,900.
Prices have climbed with the market. The black Medium in supple grained leather listed at $3,350 in 2017 was priced at $3,900 at Saint Laurent in October 2026. In the same lineup the structured Nano in grained leather was $2,700 and the Baby in grained leather $2,950.
A modern classic
More than a decade after Slimane left, the Sac de Jour remains part of Saint Laurent's core lineup. Handbag commentators now argue it has earned classic status, a seasonless bag that works across age and gender.
Its influence reaches beyond the house: Slimane's approach of distilling a familiar, wanted shape into its essentials and expanding it slowly over seasons has been credited with influencing other houses, including Gucci under Alessandro Michele.
The numbers
- Dimensions
- 14.1 x 10.6 x 7.6 in
- Material
- Grained calfskin; suede lining
- Hardware
- Light bronze brass; padlock in leather case; five metal feet
- Strap
- Detachable shoulder strap, 17.3 in
- Interior
- Two compartments separated by a zipped pocket
- Style ID
- 717446DTI0W1000
- Made in
- Italy
- Production quantity
- Not published
Timeline
Hedi Slimane is born in Paris.
Slimane is appointed at Yves Saint Laurent, replacing Stefano Pilati.
Slimane shows his first collection under the renamed Saint Laurent label.
The Sac de Jour is introduced.
A buying guide lists the bag in Nano, Baby, Small and Large, with grained leather from $1,990 to $3,490.
Kering confirms Slimane's departure; Anthony Vaccarello is named his successor.
The Supple Sac de Jour Medium debuts for Spring 2017 at $3,350 in black.
Slimane becomes creative director of Celine.
The Fall 2024 campaign by Juergen Teller centers on a relaxed Sac de Jour in vegetable-tanned leather.
The Medium in supple grained leather, black, is listed at $3,900 at Saint Laurent in the U.S.
The world in 2013
A meteor explodes over Chelyabinsk, Russia, injuring nearly 1,500 people.
Jorge Mario Bergoglio is elected Pope Francis.
Bombs explode at the Boston Marathon.
The Savar building collapse in Bangladesh kills 1,134 people.
Edward Snowden's disclosures of NSA surveillance begin to be published.
Typhoon Haiyan strikes the Philippines.
Price record
| Date | Price | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 10, 2017 | $3,350 | Asking price, not a saleRetail at launch for the Supple Sac de Jour Medium tote in black at a U.S. department store. |
| Oct 3, 2026 | $3,900 | Asking price, not a saleRetail at Saint Laurent in the U.S. for the Sac de Jour in supple grained leather, Medium, black (style 717446DTI0W1000). |
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, Saint Laurent Sac de Jour Medium is number 74 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 (84 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.
Did you know
- Sac de Jour translates as 'bag of the day.'
- Hedi Slimane designed it while running Saint Laurent's studio from Los Angeles, not Paris.
- The padlock hangs in its own leather case.
- The supple version was the first handbag released by Anthony Vaccarello at Saint Laurent.
- In 2015 the bag came in four sizes, and none of them was called Medium.
- The Medium stands on five metal feet.
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 3, 2026.
- Archive
- Oct 5, 2026