JIL SANDER & HANDBAGS & SHOES

As the old saying goes, life imitates art, and fashion is one of the rare occasions that art and utility combine to form something fantastic and functional.

Going forward, we’re going to be featuring some guest posts by Amateur Couture about the visual intersection of handbags and art, like the similar geometric lines of this Jil Sander clutch and the colorful crystal lasers exhibit photo from MWM Graphics.

No matter what, I always find myself a little bit resistent to florals. I’ve been that way since I was a child, and I don’t think I’m going to shake the aversion anytime soon; the overwhelming girlishness of a traditional floral just makes me feel a little bit silly.

EMILIO PUCCI

Girls, after the ironing rod, designer dresses and Jimmy Choo shoes, the Emilio Pucci Large Print Weekend Tote is the best thing that happened to us. Oh! It is the most amazing looking bag on planet Earth. Oversized bags are the need of the day, after all we carry our world in our bags, we couldn't possibly live without this beauty.

HANDBAGS BALENCIAGA 2011

A funny thing happened at the Hotel Crillon in Paris yesterday – Balenciaga Fall 2011 graced the runway and we actually got to see handbags. That doesn’t happen particularly often under Nicolas Ghesquiere’s creative direction, but I was utterly thrilled to see that he threw a bone to those of us who tune in to see the accessories as much as the clothes themselves. Whether or not those accessories were a success is perhaps a bit more complicated.

There are none of Balenciaga’s famous motorcycle bags to be found here, of course. Despite the fact that those designs are the brand’s bread and butter, they’re not shown as part of seasonal collections, mostly because they’re always about the same. Instead, we have two groups of clutches: one sharply tailored and printed, the other made of comically oversized woven leather (even bigger than that from Prada Fall 2010) with a beautifully detailed chain strap. The former is sure to be popular with customers, but the latter might be a bit of a harder sell for Balenciaga. The idea is an interesting one, no doubt, but the too-simple shape combined with the scale of the weave might scare some people off. Alternately, I would absolutely love to see the same material in a larger tote shape.

CELINE HANDBAGS FALL 2011

Considering Celine’s track record of re-imagining classic handbag shapes over the past few seasons, it was only a matter of time before Phoebe Philo’s accessories crew made its way to the doctor bag. Having made fashion hits out of a leather box bag on a long strap an ornately trimmed shopping tote (not to mention launching a thousand copycats at nearly every price point), Celine Fall 2011 turned its sites on two traditional accessory staples: the frame satchel and the flat clutch.

Celine’s handbag aesthetic works so well because the brand is careful to pick shapes and ideas that lend themselves to Philo’s particular brand of disciplined traditionalism. And of course, these bags carry on the brand’s New Minimalist ethos quite well, stripping both shapes down to their most basic components and then realizing them in the most pristine and exacting way possible. It’s a method that has proved incredibly successful in the past, and these bags will no doubt continue that streak.

LOUIS VUITTON MONOGRAM FLEUR DE JAIS COLLECTION OF BAGS IS THE FLAVOR OF THE SEASON

Women are known to sit up straight every time a Louis Vuitton number makes its runway debut. Louis Vuitton is not one to ignore its admirers. And as a way to pay tribute to its female admirers and buyers, Louis Vuitton's Fall/Winter 2010 Collection celebrates the woman's female form with exquisite details in mind. Out of the many show stopping pieces to hit the runway in this femme fatale collection was the Monogram Fleur de Jais bags. The Monogram Fleur de Jais collection consists of three pieces: the Manège, Speedy and Carrousel. All three pieces flaunt a reinterpreted monogram canvas that is exquisitely embellished and sequined with an ornate floral pattern.

The Monogram Fleur de Jais Manège is the perfect accessory to glam up any formal outfit. The classy clutch is made from sequined Monogram canvas and features floral details. A grained black calfskin leather flap with leather-covered S-lock, and natural cowhide leather trimmings and wrist strap ensure this creation is a showstopper both on the runway and off it. The exquisite clutch’s interior features a flat pocket and its lining is signed with the Louis Vuitton Inventeur plate. Measures 9.8" x 5.5" x 3.1" in size the Manège is priced at $2130

The iconic Speedy is my personal favorite in this Monogram Fleur de Jais line. Boasting of a floral pattern in flock and sequin, this bag manages to take my breath away. The zipper and opening features black calfskin leather while the remaining trimmings + toron handles and clochet is made from vachetta. The interior features an interior pocket, while the lining is signed with Louis Vuitton Inventeur signature. The Monogram Fleur de Jais Speedy 11.8" x 8.3" x 7.5" in size and is priced at $2420.

The Carrousel in Monogram Fleur de Jais is the crème du jour of the collection. Flaunting a body made from the Monogram canvas with an exquisite floral pattern and sequin embroidery, this vintage style accessory definitely makes for an eye catching accessory. The flap is made from grained black calfskin leather, with a single top handle made from vachetta. A gold S-lock secures the flap to the body while like other bags this bag’s interior too features a flat pocket and a lining signed with the Louis Vuitton Inventeur plate. Measuring 10.2" x 6.7" x 5.9” in size, this bag is priced at $2950.

An exquisite collection you can purchase your very own Monogram Fleur de Jais bag at any Louis Vuitton store.

BALECIAGA

Founded in 1918 by the Basque designer Cristobal Balenciaga, the house emerged as one of the great design establishments in the early decades of the twentieth century, and re-emerged around the turn of the new millennium as one of the greats of the twenty-first. Championed alike by actual queens (of Spain and Belgium) and the queens of café society and Hollywood (Babe Paley, Gloria Guinness, Marlene Dietrich), Balenciaga did nothing less than redefine the female silhouette. Throughout the mid-century years, he introduced forms that at first looked awkward or simply unattractive, but, as the eye adjusted, became the latest word in chic: the sack, the baby doll, the balloon skirt, the bracelet sleeve (a 7/8 length that hit just shy of the wrist)..

LOEWE

Loewe S.A.
Founded in : 1846
Activities : Leather goods, ready-to-wear, silk accessories & fragrances
Goya, 4
28001 Madrid – Spain www.loewe.es

In 1846, Madrid was preparing for two royal marriages, that of Her Majesty Isabel II of Bourbon to the Duke of Cadiz and that of the Princess Maria Luisa Fernanda to the Duke of Montpensier. That same year, a group of Spanish craftsmen opened a leather goods workshop in the most commercial district in Madrid. It was in 1872 when Enrique Loewe Roessberg, a German craftsman specialized in leather working, decided to join forces with the workshop owners and establish the brand. Enrique Loewe brought his precision and technique and Spain its sensuality, creativity and peerless expertise in leather.

FASHION WEEK HANDBAGS: CHRISTIAN DIOR SPRING 2011

I can’t remember the last time I was excited for a Dior bag collection, but ladies (and gents), I’m excited about Christian Dior Spring 2011.

 Perhaps it’s because John Galliano stepped away from the patrician well that he had been mining for the past year or two, or maybe it’s just the residual effect of staring at so many bright colors over the past week, but it seems to me that Dior finally has turned the page on the bland, predictable bags that we’ve seen from the Parisian label in recent seasons..

Spring 2011′s bags mark a return to exuberance and spirit that had been lacking lately, and Galliano managed to put even the unchanged leather Lady Dior bags in a new context with this florid, tropical collection.

FASHION HANDBAGS: FENDI SPRING 2011

Can I get a standing ovation for Fendi?

 It wasn’t all that many seasons ago that the brand’s accessories department seemed to be in a bit of a post-Spy Bag aesthetic flux. There were too many logos, too many underdeveloped ideas and too little editing. From the looks of it, the brand has come out of its slump in fine form with Fendi Spring 2011, the brand’s third brilliant major accessories collection in a row. Once is a fluke, twice is a coincidence but three times is a trend – get on the Fendi bus.

For spring, Fendi’s runway accessories are all about incorporating color in a classic way. No bag was graced with fewer than two different shades, and almost all of them incorporated the various colors on leathers of different textures.