Last month my ‘Bag of 2012’ was set to be Mulberry’s popular Alexa bag – let me establish now how much I despise Alexa Chung – but during a last-minute scan through every fashion magazine I could get my hands on I noticed that the designer satchel appears to be slowly surrendering it’s ‘It-bag’ status to the veteran Bowling Bag, so I’ve decided to hunt one of those down instead…
If you’ve ever prided yourself on being a fashionista, then you’ll be well-aware that the iconic ‘bowling bag’ has been around since handbags started being cool. The Louis-Vuitton ‘Speedy’ bag first appeared in 1932 as one of the first non-luggage pieces LV made, and it immediately jumped to fame on the arms of actresses such as Audrey Hepburn – the same way that Grace Kelly “made” the Hermés satchel that eventually took her name.
The Speedy bag has been re-invented over the years to suit trends – in different sizes, prints and with different attachments that enable the wearer to adapt a ‘cross-body’ style – and a similar non-monogrammed style emerged in late 2011 as a result of LV’s collaboration with Sofia Coppolla, only this time it quickly became associated with Victoria’s Secret model Miranda Kerr (I can’t help but love her, despite all the reasons I have to hate her….).
Since then I’ve noticed this particular shape creeping up on me wherever I turn – versions by YSL, Marc Jacobs, Alexander Wang (personal fave) can be snatched up on Net a Porter for between £700-1400 if you’re lucky enough to be shopping that kind of budget. Given that my budget is considerably lower, I thought I’d share with you a few of my faves….
I’ll let you know which one I end up with…but I’ll give you a clue; unless I win the lottery, or manage to wriggle into the Paul Smith Sample Sale, it’ll be the studded number from Zara.