Actress Scarlett Johansson has designed a handbag to help raise funds for Oxfam's response to the Haiti earthquake. The print on the handbag represents the ancient cartography of Haiti. It contains the message "supporting the people of Haiti" and is signed by Scarlett.
Scarlett Johansson's Haiti handbag will be sold in all Mango stores worldwide. The selling price will be $29.90. Scarlett Johansson is also the face of Mango. You can see her recent Mango campaigns here and here.
Scarlett Johansson says, "I'm thrilled to be collaborating with Mango to promote conscious consumerism and to benefit Oxfam's Haiti Earthquake Response Fund. By purchasing this bag, which I specially designed, you are helping to provide life saving assistance like clean water to the people of Haiti."
Kate Moss launched her new Longchamp handbag collection in Paris on Wednesday. Longchamp artistic director Sophie Delafontaine worked with Kate Moss on the collection that is called Kate Moss for Longchamp. The handbags will arrive in Longchamp boutiques and select department stores next month. You can see photographs of the handbags on Longchamp's website.
The Center for Environmental Health recently tested handbags from 100 of the nation's top retailers and found many of the handbags contain high levels of lead. Gretchen Carlson from Fox News did a segment on the lead in handbags, purses and wallets. Gretchen says unlike children's products there is no law requiring low levels of lead in handbags. She invited Jennifer Taggert, author of Smart Mama's Green Guide, on the show to talk about the risk from handbags. Jennifer Taggart says the vinyl bags are the most likely to contain high levels of lead. Take a look:
WWD revealed a new ad for Louis Vuitton which stars photographer Annie Leibovitz and ballet legend Mikhail Baryshnikov. Annie usually shoots campaigns for Louis Vuitton, and was surprised to be asked to star in one instead of being a photographer. She agreed to do it only if she could pick one famous person to be in the ad with her. She chose Baryshnikov.
Communication director Antoine Arnault had originally just wanted to feature Annie in the spot, but was more than happy to add Baryshnikov to the the ad.
Taken in Leibovitz's New York studio, the photo depicts the dancer barefoot on a podium, and the photographer eying her subject, her own three-year-old monogram Neverfull bag next to her and stuffed with books. The tag line reads: "The journey of a star, captured in a flash." Arnault said the image exemplifies the "moment of quiet and calm" Leibovitz achieves with her sitters. "She just gets in their souls," he said. "This campaign has really become almost a saga."
WWDreports that Kate Moss will be designing two handbag collections for Longchamp. Longchamp artistic director Sophie Delafontaine worked with Kate Moss on the first collection that will be called Kate Moss for Longchamp. It will arrive in Longchamp boutiques and select department stores next month. WWD says there will two Kate Moss for Longchamp collections per year.
Kate Moss has been modeling for Longchamp for several years. Kate Moss has also been designing clothing collctions for Topshop for the past few years.
The Wall Street Journalreports that Coach's second-quarter earnings climbed 11% thanks to improved sales during the holidays. The discounts on handbags likely helped Coach this holiday season. The company's same-store sales were up 3%.
Coach has been cutting handbag prices and introducing new styles in an effort to improve sales of shoes and accessories as consumers continue to cut spending on luxury goods. Efforts to boost its North American operations showed some success in the prior quarter. Coach also has been working with its suppliers to avoid hurting margins, as stores remain cautious about building up inventories despite signs the economy is stabilizing.
Chairman and Chief Executive Lew Frankfort on Wednesday said Coach was especially pleased with the rebound at its North American stores from the holidays, with same-store sales up 3%
Bloomberg has a less rosy article on Coach. Bloomberg says Coach's North American sales during the second quarter were lower than some analysts' estimates and that Coach's department-store sales fell.
Jimmy Choo is currently running a sale online on new arrivals. There are around 130 shoes and handbags that are discounted by 50%. The Bargainist says the end date for this sale is unknown.
You can find more sales and deals here on shoppersshop.com.
Christina Ricci is the star of a short film for Donna Karan produced by Jake Silver. The film will be shown online and in DKNY boutiques. The video short at the Soho Grand has Ricci playing four different personalities: the paramour, the dreamer, the expressionist and the voyeur. In the end Ricci's four personalties merge into one. Donna Karan's Eldridge bag also features prominently in the film. Take a look:
Endless.com is running a sale on designer shoes and handbags today with 40% off on over one thousand selected styles. Some of the discount designer brands include Betsey Johnson, L.A.M.B., Badgley Mischka, Dolce & Gabbana and Giuseppe Zanotti. You can see the items on sale here. Endless.com is Amazon.com's online apparel and shoe store.
Kate Spade has launched the Beford Street Noel Collection. The collection includes the Beford Street Noel Julian (pictured on the left), which is a tufted nylon bag quilted in Kate Spade's classic noel pattern. It retails for $295. Pictured on the right is the Bedford Street Noel Stevie Baby Bag, a tufted nylong bag with waterproof lining and changing pad and side pockets for toting bottles. It retails for $425. You can see the items from the collection here.
WWDreports that the Gucci borthers are launching a handbag collection in the spring called the To Be G collection. The collection will be designed by Guccio and Alessandro Gucci, Gucci founder Guccio Gucci's great grandsons.
WWD says the handbags - which feature different interpretations of a lily pattern - will retail for $821 to $1,343 and higher-end crocodile totes will retail for $4,479 and $8,958.
CNN's Anna Coren reports that some women in Hong Kong are using their designer handbags as collateral for personal loans. There are certainly some handbags that are worth enough to be used as collateral. A company in Hong Kong named Yes Lady Finance lets women borrow against their designer handbags. One lady took out a lown against her $39,000 Hermes handbag. Hopefully, these women will get their loans paid off. If not the handbag ends up at a second-hand store. Take a look:
Badgley and Mischka has landed at HSN. American Glamour Badgley Mischka launches on tomorrow night (Tuesday, November 17) with a two-hour special, but the items are already on sale on the website. Pictured above are the animal print handbags, which retail for $349. The collection has handbags, apparel, shoes and costume jewelry.
Here is the Maltese Cross necklace, which retails for $69.
And here are the matching earrings, which retail for $39.
You can see the rest of the collection at HSN.com.
YSL will let you customize Roady handbags in its NYC and Los Angeles stores from November 19th until December 1st. The customization options include 29 different handles choices with different colors and skins. You can also add a monogram to your bag. InStylesays YSL will have artisans available to help you customize your bag. The handle options will cost from $225 to $515 depending on the handle choice. Stylelist lists the prices as "$225 for lizard, $385 for ostrich and $515 for crocodile." This is in addition to the regular price of the YSLs' roady bags which range in price from $1,195 to $1,795. You can see YSL's latest handbags here.
The first image of a bag from the Beatles collection designed by Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garcons has been unveiled. The New York Timesreports that the apples on the bag pay homage to Apple Corps, the company that controls the licensing of the Beatles likeness and music. The Apple Corps green apple logo was also used for the design of the Beatles USB device. The Times says the polka dots on the bag are a favorite of designer Rei Kawakubo.
"I want to develop the 'Beatles by CDG' collection in a strong conceptual way," said Ms. Kawakubo through an interpreter. "Instead of making many unnecessary items that may come to resemble a Beatles souvenir shop, I think it is better to concentrate on one strong idea."
The Beatles by CDG collection will include bags, shirts and t-shirts. It will go on sale November 27th at Comme des Garcons' Tokyo and London stores and expand internationally next year. The bags will costs around $530, shirts around $367 and t-shirts about $117.
WWD 
The Wall Street Journal 
Endless.com is running a sale on designer shoes and handbags today with 40% off on over one thousand selected styles. Some of the discount designer brands include Betsey Johnson, L.A.M.B., Badgley Mischka, Dolce & Gabbana and Giuseppe Zanotti. You can see the items on sale 
