The designer handbag has become the ultimate modern status symbol.
In the world of celebrity and fashion the celebrity and her bag have a symbiotic relationship. You are not an "it" girl if you don’t have "the" bag. And you are not "the" bag unless you are worn by the current "it" girl.
People have always needed something to lug stuff around in,hermes belts, and so hand bags have been around since man could skin an animal. But people being what they are, this basic utilitarian "bag" has developed over the centuries to become something much more than the sum of it’s parts.
The modern handbag as we know it was born at the start of the twentieth century. Initially the word referred to the hand-held baggage usually carried by men (necessitated by the advent of the railway, and cheap travel). But women were quick to spot the potential, and practicality and fashion conspired in the advent of the modern fashion icon.
It was in the nineteen fifties, though, that the status handbag, complete with celebrity endorsement, was introduced. Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Hermes were the handbag du jour, and handbags themselves earned stardom, such as the famous Hermes "Kelly" bag (So named after Grace Kelly, who appeared with her favorite bag on the cover of Life magazine).
And now, in our celebrity obsessed culture the celebrity and her bag define the look of the moment.
Today Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Gucci and Dior still stand for style. Also top of the style stakes, but with more emphasis on practicality are Prada and Fendi. Then, of course, there are Bally, Balenciaga, Moschino, Dolce & Gabbana, Kate Spade, Chloe, Coach and Kooba.
There is sure to be a handbag (or two) out there that is you.
