Designer Handbags for 2015

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Nothing completes an outfit like a glorious leather handbag with gold or silver hardware and beautiful detailing in a stunning color. Top designers include handbags in their lines precisely to add glamour to the look they are projecting for the season.

On the other hand, many designers have classic handbags that go with everything and have been around for decades. Chanel’s fabulous 2.55 or flap handbags, Hermès’ iconic Kelly and Birkin bags, Pradas’s Saffiano, Balenciaga’s motorcycle bag and Fendi’s baguette are all classics that will never go out of style.

Many of the bags are made from leather and exotic skins such as crocodile, alligator, ostrich and lizard. Most of the designer handbags are handmade. The fine detailing and stitching are difficult, if not impossible, to reproduce in machine-made products. In fine handbags, there is such a wide array of colors and styles, yet each season has its standouts.

In the runway shows highlighting summer, some of the 2015 innovations were bags with big blocks of color. A tailored, black crocodile and British tan leather satchel by Prada was one example of this trend. Other trends were clutches such as the Salvatore Ferragamo leather clutch woven with thin strips of cognac leather onto bar handles. Stella McCartney designed a pearl and silver cross-body bag while Kate Spade did the same cross-body bag in bright icebox colors with “X” topstitching. Many designers showed round circles as an innovative style for handbags. Dolce and Gabanna’s Miss Glam quilted silk shoulder bag was one of many circle bags on the runways. The D & G was small, but a beautiful example from Marc by Marc Jacobs was large in white leather with another new trend—thick straps to slip your hand in to hold on to the bag.

Tiny bags are cute, but for a more practical option, designers came up with updated versions of oversized bags, totes, buckets and duffels in all shapes, sizes, colors and materials. Céline presented an attractive tote in orange or yellow grained calfskin and a less expensive version in textile. Gucci’s golden-brown crocodile bucket bag with fine metal hardware was one of the most elegant bags in this style, but Marni stole the show with a beautifully painted floral leather slouch bag in turquoise, blue, white, gray, black and a pop of red. Bottega Veneta designed duffel bags in exquisite leather with lots of feminine style to go with dressed-up looks.

The fringed look is back, and it still doesn’t cut it, in this writer’s opinion. Another look that comes up lacking was the animal print bags of Kate Spade. Céline showed a bag in goat fur swatches. Roberto Cavalli and Fendi also designed fur bags for summer. Really!

The outlandish prices such bags command come in part from our insatiable desire to own the best designer handbags and in part from the costly materials and details used to make the bag. One comforting thought is that Hermès, Chanel and Louis Vuitton raise their prices every year. So, even if they are pricey, they are a good investment, because these designer handbags will only escalate in value.

If your budget dollars are allocated in other ways than the thousands of dollars luxury designer bags cost, and you still want to purchase gently-used bags for their style and value, how can you tell that the bag is genuine? If you purchase your handbag at a reduced price in the retail boutique of the major designers, you shouldn’t have any problem. Still, if you are looking for a bargain in other places, the following tips could help. It’s all in the details according toElizabeth Bernstein of Portero.com. “It’s the hand stitching, the quality of the hardware and the turn of the toggle.”

One word of advice is that the authentic bags should feel luxurious. If they don’t, then they are unlikely to be genuine. Bernstein has developed a good sense of smell. Fine leathers smell like leather. Chevre leather is goat, and it smells like goat! Many designers use zippers from Lampo and RiRi. However, the impostors can come with these zippers and even fakes of these zippers. Bernstein warns that older bags are a little more delicate, so you have to take care of them.

For the exotic leathers of Hermès, a Cities passport is issued. If you don’t have this certificate, you may not be allowed to enter certain countries. Calfskin can be stamped to look like any exotic skin, and obviously, for leather, there would be no problem.

The handbags for 2015 are colorful. Many unusual styles added spice to the assortment of chic classic bags. There are enough variations to carry off any look you desire. To be a trendsetter, you just have to pick the right bag for your figure and outfit so that you express your unique taste. Then, go, girl!

Sources: fashionisers.com, popsugar.com, purseblog.com and vintageclothing.about.com.