CNN - arts & style - Getting a handle on Guinness bags

LONDON (CNN) - If any one accessory stands out for spring/summer 2000, it may be the handbag. Sometimes it matches an outfit; other times it provides a contrast that can make an outfit sing. London handbag designer Lulu Guinness says she relishes being the "flavor of the month."

"I think handbags are definitely are the thing of the moment," she says. "I've sort of watched it becoming more and more and more important. I think this season it's reached its absolute peak."

One group of handbags in Guinness' collection is woven like baskets. "I think baskets have become very much a part of the fashion and not just for the beach," she says. "People carry baskets to work or wherever. They're fun."

She decorates her brightly colored basket bags with beading, flowers and raffia. Her favorite is the "Hat Lady." "That's got a hat (which serves as a handle) made out of straw," Guinness says. "And then I've drawn a sort of elegant face underneath, and then it's been embroidered."

Who's looking for Guinness in a clutch?

She also does a set of what she calls "millennium bags," with embroidered or painted scenes on them. There's also a line of collectibles, featuring limited-edition bags shaped like fans, houses and shops.

So who's among collectors of her work? -- the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, for one. It features five of her signature bags including the "Florist basket" and the "House," in its permanent Guinness collection.

Spring 2000

MESSAGE BOARD

Spring/summer 2000 Post your comments on the new collections

Her other clients include pop superstar Madonna, actress-model Elizabeth Hurley (Hugh Grant's honey), model Jerry Hall (Mick Jagger's former partner) and Gillian Anderson, who plays agent Dana Scully on FOX's "X Files" show.

Those women, and anyone else looking for a Guinness purse, can check out her new store in London, where the decor is as funky as the bags.

"The whole floor is tiles with old copies of French Vogue illustrations and '50s English Vogue illustrations (that) I've collected," Guinness says. "I couldn't put them on the walls because I thought they would fight the bags, so we just made the entire floor of these beautiful illustrations and photographs."

CNN Style Correspondent Elsa Klensch contributed to this report.

RELATED STORIES:

Special: Visions of 2000 - A forward-looking roundup of fashion, design and art

Accessories for 2000: Bigger, bolder
December 28, 1999
Fendi crafts a mosaic of purses, clothing for winter
December 7, 1999

RELATED SITE:

Lulu Guinness

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.

Back to the top