The extraordinary handbags that are both fashion and art

The extraordinary handbags that are both fashion and art Art meets fashion in the intricate, rhinestone-encrusted Faberge Egg evening bag by Judith Leiber In the 17th Century, small bags known as sweet purses were exquisitely crafted in unusual shapes such as frogs, while the fashionable technique of filigree was used to create elegant purses which were often exchanged as gifts between aristocrats. Victoria and Albert Museum, London The 1996 Florist's Basket handbag by Lulu Guinness echoes styles from past centuries These in turn had an impact on the jewel-like creations of Hungarian-US designer Judith Leiber, whose sought-after evening bags come in the shape of everything from bunches of asparagus to lipstick, and the British designer Lulu Guinness, whose flower-basket bags from the 1990s can be seen as a three-dimensional interpretation of floral reticule designs. Victoria and Albert Museum, London The 2020 spider-jewelled, four-ring clutch by Alexander McQueen is both evening bag and art piece But it seems that what serious bag collectors are drawn to, season after season, is the classics – the Lady Dior bag, the Chanel Flap bag, the Hermès Kelly and, of course, the Birkin. Art meets fashion in the intricate, rhinestone-encrusted Faberge Egg evening bag by Judith Leiber Of course, for most us, the thought of owning a Chanel Flap Bag or a Dior Saddlebag, let alone a Hermès Birkin, is as out of the question as owning one of Tracey Emin’s sewn appliqué pieces or a print by Marc Quinn.