FIVE years ago a woman needed a gym membership, a chiropractor on speed-dial and plenty of attitude to lug around the it bag of the day. Enormous, ostentatious and outrageously expensive, it bags, including the Givenchy Nightingale, the Balenciaga Giant and the Chloe Paddington, were one of the biggest fashion phenomena of the early 2000s. But post-recession, the flashy monograms and in-your-face styles have gone, replaced by a more discreet species of clutches and totes that is driving the recovery of the handbag market. When sales of handbags in the US alone fell 3.3 per cent to $6.97 billion last year, according to market researcher NPD Group, fashion brands across the world began working overtime to transform their designer dinosaurs into smaller classic investment pieces that would appeal to the more judicious consumer. Stripped of gilt and logos, and in more functional shapes such as the messenger, the satchel and the pochette, the latest offerings from Celine, Chloe, Mulberry and Prada offer a timeless and more practical alternative to giant and garish one-season trends. "I think people want to feel as though they are buying not this throw-away thing," says Mulberry creative director Emma Hill who since joining the British luxury company has already produced the fashion industry's first post-recession handbag hit, the Alexa. Named after British television presenter Alexa Chung, the Alexa has helped increase Mulberry's sales by almost 30 per cent since June last year from pound stg. 58.6 million to pound stg. 72.1m ($116.8m). The streamlined man-style leather satchel sells for pound stg. 795 on Mulberry's website, with a smaller clutch bag version priced at pound stg. 450. "The Alexa you could be wearing next year, you could be wearing it in 40 years," Hill says. "It's not so tied to one season and it's not a one-hit wonder. We have had incredible success with bags like the Alexa." Since taking the helm of Mulberry three years ago Hill has reinvented the it bag as a heritage-inspired investment piece by drawing on the brand's archives and imbuing them with her own sense of English eccentricity. The Alexa, for example, is a new take on Mulberry's traditional men's briefcase called the Bayswater. Hill was inspired to create it for Chung after the television presenter was photographed carrying the men's Bayswater, which Hill reinterpreted in softer leathers and textiles in multiple colours and prints. Celine and Chloe are the other two powerhouses of the new understated purse. Celine's best-selling Boston tote features the brand's logo in small gold type, while the brand's petite Classic Box Bag shoulder bag has it discreetly embossed into the gold hardware on the clasp lock. The Celine bags share the same investment cachet and design lineage as the elegant Hermes Constance, often referred to as the Jackie O bag, or Cartier's classic Les Must de Cartier burgundy bags, first launched in 1974. Chloe has introduced a subtle colour palette of of tan, caramel, olive and ivory for its subtle, structured bags, of which the heroes, the Paraty and the Marcie totes, have replaced the Paddington as the brand's most desired pieces. Launched in 2005 and weighted down by a large metal padlock and a $1380 price tag, Chloe's Paddington nonetheless boasted waiting lists, as did similarly grand offerings from Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Prada. Independent retailer Robby Ingham was the first to import the Chloe Paddington into Australia, and says the bag would repeatedly sell out within two days. The Paddington was the first it bag, says Ingham. It created the whole craze. Chloe had a waiting list in its London store of 700 people. But now, says Ingham, the discerning customers are slowly moving away from the highly identified mongram bag. A new functionalism also has emerged with bags featuring details borrowed from men's workwear. Miu Miu's Paloma messenger bag is a more luxurious version of a work satchel and is designed to carry an iPad and a laptop. (Computers are fashion statements, too.) But given the nature of the new bags, the challenge is marketing them. In this respect, celebrity seeding and a strong internet presence are more important for brands than ever. Naming the Alexa after Britain's most emulated figure since Kate Moss was certainly a smart move by Mulberry, while other labels give their bags to young actresses such as Emma Watson, Carey Mulligan, Blake Lively and Kristen Stewart. Fashion bloggers including Susie Bubble and Garance Dore, who heralds Celine as her favourite handbag of the moment, also help drive sales. Fashion blogger Tommy Ton (jak&jil.com) has an entire page devoted to people wearing Celine, which is owned by LVMH, the world's biggest luxury group conglomerate. LVMH recorded a 14 per cent rise in third-quarter sales, also driven by the solid recovery of its other fashion brands including Louis Vuitton, Fendi and Loewe. Chanel launched a Facebook page to promote its products in May, adding to a digital arsenal including a website, iPhone app and podcasts. "It's a crossover from our own website that provides behind-the-scenes action, backstage footage and news on the latest developments," Chanel Australia and New Zealand corporate communications manager Juliet Fallowfield says. Chanel's Facebook page has already attracted two million friends, while Hermes, which launched its Facebook page in August, has gathered more than 180,000 fans. With classic bags including the Kelly and the Birkin already within its stable, Hermes is better placed than most to capitalise on the trend to less obvious luxury for customers who can afford them. The French luxury brand reported a 55.2 per cent surge in second-half profits and predicts a 12 per cent jump in overall sales this year. "We have observed a retreat to quality, which has enhanced the appeal of Hermes to its clients around the world," says a spokesman for Hermes Australia. Hermes' bags and the company's blue-chip reputation have proved irresistible even to its competitors, with LVMH last month buying a 14 per cent stake in the company for a cost of E1.45bn ($1.99bn). Hill agrees an appreciation of quality is also behind Mulberry's soaring sales. "There is something nice about artisan things and we have done incredibly well," she says of investment handbags. "Our major problem right now is making them fast enough, which as an old friend of mine used to say, is a high-class problem."
