Arm Candy

You don't need to know much to know I love handbags.

Its been a long standing love of mine. Most people are either shoe or bag people and I'm a true bag lady. BUT since I started designing my own range of bags for Tiger Tem, and naturally virtually never carrying any other brand of bag...what I save in spending on bags, I now spend on shoes, or rings...but more of that later.

I guess one of the great things about designing bags is when I feel the need for a new one, I'll just sit down and design one. The day bag that has been superglued to my side for the past 9 months now is the Tiger Tem Goldfinger, mine's olive croc with gold handles and I LOVE it. I don't really 'do' green but somehow this works. I normally switch around my bags with impressive regularity but somehow this bag just keeps coming up trumps.

Its practical, versatile and looks way more expensive than it is. I take it everywhere by day and its a willing accomplice for my day to night attire...I must say i don't do big bags at night, much in the same way I don't do flat shoes by night - more on clutch bags later. I always get asked about my Olive Goldfinger (Its on Time Out Nigeria's Top 10 most wanted list) and its just looking better and better with age.

I'm not just tooting my own horn because I've noticed the other women that have bought the Goldfinger bags can barely be separated from them. So far, I'd call it Tiger Tem's first 'it bag'. Every time a new batch come into the boutique, they disappear so fast that even I'm damn impressed! I only do 2 the same (max) so its a real mix of colours, prints and textures and of course, the cute Tiger Tem charms.

But the game is definitely on design another hot day bag for the next season. What's life without its challenges? Just so you know the plan is, like Fendi I guess, to work with a very small number of basic shapes and offer incredible variety of textures and prints. So I'd say 1 or 2 hot day bag shapes and 2 or 3 hot clutch bags.

BUT a new season is upon us and with that comes a new bevy of beautiful bags all vying for your attention. The bags that seem poised for the top are the YSL Downtown, its back for another run...the black patent is the one that has all fashionistas a frenzy, but I actually prefer the Uptown...and Chloe have done it again with the Heloise, and its gotta be the red one. If you can find one..they've sold out. I like the retro styling of the bag and the plaited strap is a nice touch.

Here are a few of my favourites for the new season. They're still big and beautiful but I can see more structure and defined forms making their way in. I like.

The YSL uptown, the big sister to the downtown. The shape, the structure, the gold toggle, the discreet Y logo...Killer shine with the fabulously luxurious looking patent indigo leather....hmmm...I think you can tell, I am LOVING this bag! Forget about the budget shine of popping lipgloss, up the ante and take the shine to a whole new level.

The Zagliani Gold. In the era where excess is not enough for the excessive, injecting your face with botox is not enough, now you have to inject your bags too? The gorgeous snake skin bags have been given the same level of TLC (tightening, liposculting care) as the women who own them. Each bag is injected with a complex mix of silicon and resin which really does make the tough skin, buttery soft. Their creator Mauro Orietti-Carella, a trained dermatologist, is a pretty damn smart man. He clocked a market of big spenders susceptible to major hype and outrageous methods, eager to out trump the Trump and he gave them the Zagliani. And they've been selling like hotcakes ever since.

This is the Tiger Tem goldfinger. I did the chocolate and gold version first, then a beige and gold version and they all went on the first day and since then I've just been mixing up the colours and textures. That's the fun bit, when I get a winning formula then I can just keep on working on it to make it better and better (hopefully!). Most of the bags have an element of gold hence the name, but I've started working with more bronze for the current collection. My new favourite Goldfinger is this purple one....and you know purple is superhot right now.

There's something about a great red bag. When carried with a simple monochrome outfit...well, there's no better choice. It oozes that undeniable yet effortless chic, most of us work up a sweat each morning trying to achieve. I'm totally loving this Miu Miu satchel, its retro, its cute, its got a great structure (or great bones as I like to say), and its finished off perfectly with the gold clasp. Big bags are giving way to a smaller, more manageable size that won't break your back. Edit the contents of your bags ladies, its quite a liberating thing.

Anya hit headlines all across the world a few months ago with her rather clever 'I'm Not A Shopping Bag' ethical shopping bag. Savvy shoppers, hotfooted it down to sainsbury's, bought a few for a fiver each, then promptly sold them on ebay where some were reportedly sold for over £100!!!!

But this bag is for anyone with the midas touch...and then some. Gold bags have been knocking around for a while but its the cracked patent leather of this one that puts it firmly on my list.



Jas MB's scaled leather tote is one of those bags that you just know will get better with age. Its in that perfect shade of dark chocolate brown, and the scale effect is a unique touch that sets this bag apart in the style stakes. Jas is one of the few people to oversee his entire line from pattern cutting to shop floor and his fastidious attention to detail shows. I worked with him one summer, to learn some tricks of the trade....and he is so dedicated to his art, it was only a matter of time before the world started to appreciate that art. He's been HUGE in Japan for ages and now it seems Europe and America and finally catching on.

And the Chloe Heloise. I don't know what's up with all the bags being named after grannies, actually maybe that's what they do, everyone on the design team gets a bag named after their grannie. The aged leather, undertsated and again its that retro styling paired with a rather crafty plaited strap.

Your thoughts? Anything you think I left out?