The Gruffalo, Julia Donaldson’s bestselling picture book, becomes a £3,300 Dior bag, and the medium tote is already unavailable

The Gruffalo has become a Dior handbag. The Medium Dior Book Tote embroidered with the cover of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s picture book costs £3,300, and on 10 November 2026 it was already showing as “Currently unavailable” on dior.com UK. The smaller version costs £2,200 and could still be ordered. The rest of the capsule runs from a £420 card holder to an £820 Gruffalo bag charm made from a thimble and safety pins.

Dior has not said whether the medium tote has sold out or has not yet been delivered. Its page shows a “Notify me” button where the basket button would be.

From a 1999 picture book to the Dior Book Tote

The Book Tote is one of Dior’s best-known bags, and its “Book Cover” versions reproduce the covers of famous books in embroidery. Dior says the Gruffalo design draws on “the cover of the original edition of The Gruffalo written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler”. It places the monster in “Jonathan Anderson’s dream library”, a reference to the house’s creative director.

The bag shows the forest scene from the cover, the Gruffalo, the mouse, the two authors’ names and the Dior signature. The Gruffalo was first published in 1999. Magic Light Pictures, which manages the licence, describes the Dior partnership as a first-of-its-kind collaboration for the book. Its licensing director, Aidan Taylor-Gooby, said the company was “honoured” to place The Gruffalo “alongside some of the world’s most iconic works of literature”, in a statement reported by Licensing Source.

The Gruffalo charm made from a thimble and safety pins

The most unexpected piece is not a bag. Dior’s Créatures Couture The Gruffalo Bag Charm builds the monster from “a thimble and safety pins crafted in antique silver-finish brass and brown faux shearling”. The thimble forms the head, with orange eyes and horns, while the faux shearling gives the Gruffalo his shaggy body. It costs £820. A second Gruffalo charm in antique silver-finish brass and brown grained calfskin costs £450.

Every piece and its price

A search for “gruffalo” on dior.com UK returned nine pieces on 10 November 2026:

• Medium Dior Book Tote with Strap, multicolour embroidery, 36 x 31.5 x 14cm: £3,300, “Currently unavailable”.
• Mini Dior Book Tote with Strap, green embroidery, 20.5 x 16 x 7cm: £2,200, available to order.
• A5 Triangle Pouch, green embroidery with a removable wrist strap: £1,450.
• B27 Uptown Low-Top Sneaker, grey calfskin and cream Dior Gravity leather: £1,050.
• Dior Créatures Couture The Gruffalo Bag Charm, brass, calfskin and faux shearling: £820.
• Bifold Wallet, green Dior Gravity leather with the book-cover motif: £570.
• Dior Créatures Couture The Gruffalo Bag Charm, brass and grained calfskin: £450.
• Bifold Card Holder, green Dior Gravity leather: £450.
• Card Holder, green Dior Gravity leather: £420.

Dior lists the medium tote’s main composition as cotton and calfskin, with a cotton, linen and calfskin lining. Both totes can be carried by hand, over the shoulder or crossbody.

What we think

We like the idea. The Gruffalo is read in so many British homes that seeing it on a Dior bag is a genuine surprise, and the thimble-and-safety-pin charm is the kind of craft detail that makes a luxury collaboration feel less like a logo exercise.

We have not seen the pieces in person. The obvious reservation is the price: the medium tote costs £3,300, and the cheapest item is a £420 card holder. These are adult fashion pieces, not children’s products. We have also not checked stock in Dior boutiques, and the “Currently unavailable” status on the medium tote may change at any time.

Price and availability: the essentials

• Collection: Dior x The Gruffalo, by Jonathan Anderson for Dior.
• Prices: from £420 (card holder) to £3,300 (medium Book Tote) on dior.com UK, checked on 10 November 2026.
• Medium tote: “Currently unavailable” online, with a “Notify me” option.
• Mini tote: £2,200, available to order, with delivery estimated from 13 November.
• Where: dior.com and selected Dior boutiques worldwide, according to Magic Light Pictures.

See the Dior Gruffalo collection, or read about Pickles, the £12.99 toy from the John Lewis Christmas advert on All Subscription Boxes.