Crazy Bag Lady

I have three handbags. The first is a huge black pleather thing that cost £5 from H&M. It's years old, ripped to shreds and I'm pretty sure if I contorted slightly I could get inside it. The second is a little blue and white corduroy bag that is made of recycled fabric, it's nice but goes with nothing. The third, like the first, is unnecessarily large, very old and different bits fall off it everyday. I previously had no problem lugging it about until friends informed me that the unsightly pattern resembles the opening credits of Saved By The Bell. I now realise that it is god awful.

(Olympia Le-Tan)

So, generally I'm not a handbag person. (Well, unless I could afford a Mulberry Bayswater) It takes something creative, teetering on the edge of tack to capture my interest...which brings me to my point.

I have recently come across French designer, Olympia Le-Tan and her 2010 collection of handbags under the title 'you can't judge a book by its cover.' The book shaped clutches are inspired by first edition sleeves of literary classics; an arty ode to her time at university in Florence studying Italian literature and cinema.(I can hear the hipsters coming)

These playful designs have been championed by the likes of Tilda Swinton and Natalie Portman but more recently by Michelle Williams who carried a Le-Tan bag in the form of Arthur Miller's The Misfits to last night's BAFTAs - a subtle nod to Marilyn Monroe. "That's exactly the way I like my bags to be worn." said Le-Tan "For the book and for the bag!"

Olympia Le-Tan, who has worked for Chanel and Balmain, incorporates a chic and flirtatious parisian spirit into each of her hand-embroidered designs. And this is a lady after my heart; her newest collection channels the vintage aesthetic of a 1950s housewife in a modern setting. Expanding into cook-book and milk carton shapes, the bags make a snappy retro comment to match the bold stitching.

I admit, the £1000 price-tag did make me choke, shake a fist and subsequently shed a tear. However, the parisian designer defends the price, telling Grazia "They are no more more expensive than a hideous designer bag probably manufactured in China by children. They are a luxury good made in France." Now I see merit in the expense which represents the value of designer fashion as you are paying for the craft rather than a logo.

Olympia Le-Tan has contemplated a future foray into apparel, even discussing a possible catwalk collection. A book shaped bag, I can do. A book shaped dress, I'm not so sure.