Introducing V°73: Luxury Handbags With A Clever Twist

We love fashion with a sense of humor, so we’re smitten with accessories label V°73, which

plays with the concept of luxury with its range of high-end canvas bags. Already big in Italy, the label launches in the States in 2013 and will be available on Farfetch.com.

V°73 takes its name the street number of the atelier in Venice where designer Elisabetta Armellin worked early on in her career. At a quick glance, the bags appear to be made from smooth leather or exotic skins like python and ostrich, but they are actually intricate paintings over canvas. This means the pricetag is just about as friendly as you can get.

The Autumn-Winter 2012-2013 collection expands on the origin of the label: the canvas bags. This season they are broken down into three categories–Travel, Luxury and Classics. The Travel bags are to nods four of Armellin’s favorite cities: New York, Tokyo, Venice and London. The Luxury range features exotic skins and plenty of playful trinkets like foxtails and gold charms. Meanwhile, the classics have a simple, Birkin bag feel and come in rich colors like blue Persia, purple malva and the signature V°73 slate grey.

All the bags are eco-friendly and use dyes made from natural pigments. Each one is completed with tone-to-tone cowhide trimmings on the handles and feature detachable charms. We also love a charitable twist: a portion of sales from the current collection will be donated to the Senology Medical Center of Treviso on behalf of the Stella Pollare Association who seeks to fight against breast cancer.

www.v73.it

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Michael Kors in 2012

With the end of the world year rearing its head, it's time to weigh in on the best of 2012. Bing.com just reported that Michael Kors, beloved American designer and Project Runway judge, is ranked the No. 1 most searched designer in 2012, knocking down luxury brand Gucci from its previous position as the No. 1 most searched brand of 2011. Many reasons could attribute to this, one being that American brands have received a lot of support this year by big fashion influencers like Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Biel, and Michelle Obama (who wore Kors's design on election night). Furthermore, Kors's presence on Project Runway — the designer has been on the show since '04 — has surely gained an audience he previously may not have reached across the world. So who else topped the list as the most searched designers/brands this year? Louis Vuitton nabbed the No. 2 spot, Gucci took No. 3, and Ralph Lauren ranked in as No. 4.

Top searched fashion brands and designers on Bing in 2012:

1. Michael Kors
2. Louis Vuitton
3. Gucci
4. Ralph Lauren
5. J.Crew
6. Chanel
7. Prada
8. Juicy Couture
9. Burberry
10. Tory Burch

Best Dressed At Valentino Master Of Couture Opening: Victoria Beckham & More

It has been a non-stop week for the fash-pack as they were all out in force again, fresh from the the BFAs, to support Valentino at the opening of his exhibition Valentino: The Master Of Couture at Somerset House.
Designer of the year Stella McCartney attended in a beautiful oversized white coat and trousers and style icon of the year Alexa Chung showed why she won the style gong in a pretty, pretty apple green dress with a white lace overlay. Fashion princess Oliva Palermo looked elegant (as per) in a lace gown and Dita Von Tease showed off her teeny tiny waist in a monochrome dress.Style queen Victoria Beckham didn't attend just one fashion event last night but two, as VB headed to Valentino's after party after speaking to students at London College of Fashion with fashion writer Colin McDowell. Vic tweeted: 'Thank you Colin McDowell and the inspirational students and staff at @LCFLondon, it was a great evening x vb.' Possibly still in an LA state of mind, VB ignored the London chill in a bright orange two piece suit with black peep toe boots.

Some real royalty was there too, as Princess Beatrice and Eugenie and Sarah Ferguson were at the opening. Liz Hurley was also there in a black strapless lace mini and her ex-husband Arun Nayar was also at the bash (awks).

The exhibition showcases glamourous Valentino Haute Couture from 50 years of his career, including gowns worn by Grace Kelly and Jackie Onassis. You can go and see all the fabulous gowns for yourself at Somerset House from today .

Alexander Wang to Balenciaga?

The rumor wheel has been an insufferable little bitch all week. First, it toyed with our cheap emotions by parading this Givenchy x H&M canard in our faces just two mornings ago, and now, Twitter has gone amock just before midnight with the New York Times’ Cathy Horyn’s declaration that the prince of downtown New York urban-chicness – Alexander Wang  - is the new front-runner to replace Nicolas Ghesquiere at Balenciaga. Not only that, but Horyn claims that the official appointment could be solidified as early as the end of this week .

There’s no sense in waxing lyrical about Ghesquiere’s talents or legacy. It is important to note, before any concrete opinions can be laid out,  that Ghesquiere was a mere 25 years old when he took the reins as creative director of Balenciaga, after the untimely departure of Belgian designer Josephus Thimister. Still, the Ghesquieres of this world are few and far between – real gifts to any art. Still, Alexander Wang’s talents can not be easily dismissed. His Fall 2011 collection was as haute a collection that has graced a catwalk in recent memory. Still, Balenciaga is not in need of a revival. It’s been staged. If ever there were a house in least need of a mix up – it was the Maison Balenciaga.

Wang is hardly most people’s first guess for the position. Even if a mix-up were inevitable (we do not know the motives behind neither Ghesquiere nor PPR- the conglomerate that owns Balenciaga, along with Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Alexander McQueen). But, the fact that he left such an impression on the head honchos of PPR as to make it to the front of the ranks surely  means that -aesthetically – the company is looking for a new POV, a new breath of life. We say, enjoy it if you can get it.

HS by FASHIONDELLA