Phoebe Philo in Fall 2005

Phoebe Philo is back, but not to bring smooshy leather idealism again to Chloé, but as the next creative director of fellow French fashion house, Céline.

LVMH Moët Hennessy confirmed to WWD exclusively on Sept. 4th. The magazine immediately published the news, but in short, almost byte form - so here you get a detailed reaction with enough information to match…

Despite creating arguably the world’s favorite IT bag with the company, Philo left the design world completely 2 years ago to stay home with a new baby, who’s now 3 with a younger sibling of 18 months*. The deal with Céline that appealed to the new mom is that she would be allowed to stay and work in her home town of London, and not the headquarters of both houses, Paris, France. (*Source) Why the success her Paddington and other beloved purses being responsible for Chloé’s clout of today didn’t cause Phoebe to merely take temporary maternity leave, with parent company, Richemont, offering this same compromise is beyond me. Click for more (story, photos, etc.) »

Based on the style-preference delusion that fashionistas don’t detest big fringe, and seemingly out of the 70’s, has arrived new bag design house MUXO. Designed and crafted solely by Camila Alves and her own dear mother, Muxo’s bags are painstakingly labored over by their own hands, tools and a rarer cowhide from Brazil - no not even sewing machines are used by this team. That’s not to say this indie business isn’t big biz backed or have gone/are going it alone en route to already-instant fame, for the designer is a fashion-and-Hollywood-insider as a former model and current baby-momma to Matthew McConaughey’s newborn son Levi.

So there’s no need for Camila to pray to label namesake, an African goddess of water, for help - which is lucky because what does water have to do with land-animal-skinned accessories? No, with unique “ironing” details and bags that go beyond leather-jacket fringe and long straps, such as a frame satchel and several nice clutches - I even predict mother-daughter team will encounter a bit too much success than four hands and not much more electricity than lighting can handle. Perhaps little Levi will help in the future? The 1 month old was recently quoted, “Dad, mom, I wanna go support mom’s purses”. Aww! I hope this couple is as open-minded as they’d seem.

If you’re interested in these unique bags, they range from $450 to $1,400, are available through their official website, or you can check them out in person at L.A.’s Kitson.

Apparently Barack’s message of change and hope brought “designer” Timmy Woods hopelessly back to vintage style. Even if you love true vintage, you may be bummed by this red, white and blue homage to Obama’s “logo”. I imagine most recessionistas and even Obama-crushers would not feel a strong desire to show off this branded symbol, even for we who think it holds a better message than Ls, Vs and flowers. Woods’s work was previously showcased in Sex and the City and I’m afraid poor, classy Michelle Obama will be forced to “flaunt’ this creation, possibly at the Democratic National Convention.

But will she be alone? This garbage bag will sell to the public, with partial proceeds going to charity. I picture this dressing up the walls of handbag-enthusiasts’ collection areas much more than dangling far below their shoulders.

I bet, no know, that fellow fashionistas and Etsy crafters could sketch better and more stylish interpretations of political idolatry and ideology. In fact, I’d love to see your work, especially if there’s interest in a contest! Leave me a comment.

source

BagBunch.com has recently posted a very popular and controversial argument against celebrities appearing charitable yet lavishing themselves with luxury purses. Read the article to learn a thing or two, if nothing else. But what are the ethical answers to my two questions: #1 Does a good person not deserve the best of what they love if it barely adds up to their total income? #2 Do you consider celebrities receiving free gifts so they in turn advertise the merchandise?

Feel free to discuss this issue here or on the original webpage.

I’ve included this “quiz” the webmaster suggests other sites share:

Even though the Paddington is my favorite designer bag, it’s not for the lock. In fact, it’s quite despite it’s more silly features and is largely about those side belts.

But the silliness does not end at that huge padlock, I suddenly this morning found myself pondering why the Chloé brand is so insistent on using only the silver-tone (nickel?) metal for their zippers, no matter how aged-brassy the rest of the hardware is. Apparently it glides better - but the problem is the bag is still a pain in the tush to zip up! Half the time those unsecured ends come undone.

I’d say give us a little less “quality” metal and give us a feature that will actually help speed up the toting of this purse, because most of us just “fling the lock over”, and we could use at least one easier step.

… On the other hand, it kind of tickles me that the bags may seem fake to some when they are the true ones (however I’ve never seen a matchy-matchy fake, sigh).

Now I must go remind “Choccy” I love her. (”Mama didn’t mean it!”)

Britney lost the law suit defending against LVMH, but what we care about second to that bit of news is finding this music video, natch!

Britney Spears - Do Somethin’

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=lb-oyK3t7tI[/youtube]

I’ve added the vid to our No Knockoffs playlist on our YouTube account: Lipped Media, as well, so check it out.

And of course you should check out the news story, if you don’t already know all the details.

Just to inform you I tweaked the “single” post page layout a bit to resemble a bit more of a shop item page; which is just something I personally wanted.

Some of the core changes only go back a little way through the Fall (so far), and only effect posts with products to buy, but one feature is a list of suggested similar bags to buy on the sidebar. Bags will only be eligible for this promotion throughout their selling season (neat feature).

Although I’m now running behind on posts, partially due to time-wasting code failures, he he.  My bad, but I will catch up because this week is a very important shopping/gift week!

The IT Watch page here at Bag Dream is back up with one fewer feature (a script calculated top posts list) but a whole lot more new features!

There are now outside sources from StyleHive and Glam, and our poll for the #1 F/W bag now is juxtaposed with labeled pictures, for better voting. Please vote now!

If you have any ideas on making this page better, or your own opinions on it bags, please comment!

Dooney & Bourke really knows how to pick a celebrity to give them a little publicity, while also targeting one of their main demographics: teens (no, not sci-fi buffs). Hayden Panettiere has designed a bag for the brand, to come out for the Holidays 2007. Like a hero, super star Hayden, who plays Claire Bennett on the wildly popular, Heroes TV series, actually designed something a bit more toward the classic end of Dooney’s style - no, she didn’t go the teeny-bopper pattern route. (Miss P., you are redeeming yourself from your past escapades of friend’s shirt licking!) Maybe the subtle look of the actress’s design will help to mature her peer’s own senses of fashion?

A limited edition bag, due to arrive to order in early December, it is however just a bit lacking in creativity and that something special to warrant its exclusivity, stature, and the slightly higher price tag than many Dooney’s, at around $500.

Really, in order to warrant me buying a Claire Bennett purse, a kind of plain one, a bit too expensive one — well I want it to be a true super hero bag and be indestructable, with a warranty for free repairs - or “regenerations” by the Dooney company.

But that’s just the Geek Chic in me!

via Bag Bliss

Consumers are cutting back, even fashionistas, even bag ladies - yes, even I am. Are we maturing? singularly, most of us (and me!). Is there a higher cost of living? Of course. Perhaps, it might be due in part to a growing awareness of “right” and “green” and all that. Does the American public have more of a conscience with spending?

I for one have cut back on my IT bags because I’ve gotten my own apartment, am struggling to work hard enough to keep my income rising and fit it in with managing a home. As a first-time parent-free lass, I have a boom of immediately worse costs, as well. Most of that will get better, but responsible times are ahead. It’s today, it’s the future.

But one blog, Luxist, suggests maybe designers’ efforts to produce drool-inducing must-haves in fact brought upon a terrorist attack on arm fashion beauty. Case in point: Louis Vuitton’s “explosion” of popular styles all in one tote. The LV Patchwork Tribute bag may have been the eye-opener to strike some sense into accessory fetishists everywhere. Maybe it’s caused us to see ornate handbags as sillier, or perhaps designers’ creativity (and sense of aesthetic sanity?) was lost or temporarily damaged in pursuit of dollar signs.

It’s something to think about. But rest assured, or perhaps the opposite: the handbag is here to stay of some importance to modern, stylish women. Everything goes in cycles, so if IT bags have either lost their appeal or there just aren’t worthy gorgies to satisfy and salivate us — it’ll come back big time again. The market rises and falls, economies change, budgets are balanced and blown — and presidents swear in and lame duck-tail it out. Fashion is a vicious world of the wild, and it too follows the laws of the circle of life.

Or … perhaps the IT’s still got IT. I mean, handbag always trumps shoes as the iconic symbol of women’s true sinful desires .. doesn’t it?