Bags of class - why do women love handbags so much?

 

What sacrifices would you have to make to afford Gucci bags - all butter-soft leather, ruches and gold hardware, and a hefty £720?

 

The Gucci bags is the ultimate 21st- century object of desire, not just for supermodels and celebutantes, but for working women from all walks of life.

These days we're prepared to spend more on a handbag than a holiday or even a car - and we want the rest of the world to know it.

Clothes on the catwalk regularly take second place to this most covetable of accessories - a trend borne out earlier this year when Kate Moss starred in Gucci bags campaign, lying naked on a beach, except for her New Gucci bags.

The message was clear: clothes are redundant - it's all about the Bag.

But why do we find bags so desirable? It's partly because they've become a unique outward statement of a woman's status[WU1] , fashion savvy and earning power - and the rising popularity of handbags over the past 100 years has followed the increasing social independence of their owners.

Two hundred years ago, a woman's role was largely domestic and she would keep her belongings in a purse tucked into the folds of her clothes.

But as women started leaving the home, both for leisure and work, New Gucci bags became a useful way of carrying their possessions.

Rail and sea travel caused an explosion in the popularity of fashionable luggage such as suitcases, dressing cases, hat and shoe boxes - out of which the modern leather handbag developed.

It's no accident that many of today's most luxurious handbag design houses, such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada and Hermes, originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as travel became more common. Then, as women gained financial independence, so the handbag industry flourished out of all proportion to its humble origins.

A seductive combination of briefcase and luxury, with its distinctive gold charms, it proclaimed its bearer as a serious woman who was nonetheless glamorous and sophisticated.

More recently, an appearance on the arm of a style icon like Kate Moss can give a cutting edge to any modern bag - and Mulberry, Balenciaga and Stella McCartney have all benefited from the kudos in recent years.

Clever marketing inevitably also plays a vital role in creating a must-have. While Kate Moss may always be able to get her hands on the latest luxury bag, for the woman in the street it's much more of a challenge, regardless of money.

Being unavailable is vital - with waiting lists for a high-status bag such as the Hermes Birkin stretching up to three years.

Women's natural competitiveness is, of course, cleverly managed by the top bag designers. In 2005, Alexander McQueen stirred up customer demand to fever pitch when he announced the launch of his new bag, the Novak, named after Kim Novak, the legendary blonde actress who starred in Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 masterpiece Vertigo.

After it was announced that the bag was a limited edition with only 200 ever to be produced, starting at £550 and rising to a whopping £6,000 for the deluxe crocodile version, the Novak became the ultimate fashion trophy, selling out before a waiting list was even compiled.

In fact, as manufacturers have been quick to observe, ever-increasing price tags seem merely to add lustre to an It-Bag's allure, and even seasoned observers are sometimes astonished at our seemingly endless willingness to splash out on designer bags.

But while It-Bags may come and go, only a handful of handbags have the stellar qualities to become timeless.

Iconic bags are not just strikingly designed, they also transcend the time in which they were created, like the legendary Chanel 2.55, which was unveiled in 1955 (its name comes from the month and year it was launched).

Other bags I'd include in this elite field would be the Hermes Kelly, the Fendi Baguette and, more recently, Marc Jacobs's Stam, the YSL Muse and the Mulberry Roxanne.

An iconic bag owes its status not to canny marketing strategies, but to the finest traditions of pedigree, quality and craftsmanship to look as good decades later as it did the day it was first worn.

And, for a true bag-lover, that is almost beyond price.

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 [WU1]