Ferragamo's new signature bag - Fiamma

MILAN (AP):

Perhaps the 'it' bag's star just burned too bright. Those must-have handbag wonders, which flew out of stores before dropping into sudden oblivion, have given way to something more enduring: signature bags.

Iconic bags have been around since fashion fused with celebrity - Hermes has the Birkin, Fendi the Baguette, Gucci the Hobo, and so on - but now they are becoming a cornerstone of brand strategy, acting as a flagship item. These are bags so exclusive and enduring they have become emblematic of the label they bear.

Ferragamo launched its own entry into the category last week with the Fiamma, named for founder Salvatore Ferragamo's late daughter, who was the force behind Ferragamo's first handbag collection in the 1970s. Designed by Massimiliano Giornetti, the satchel-styled bag takes elements from a 1990s Fiamma Ferragamo design, including a top handle and a locked flap, for a creation meant to be both functional and aesthetically appealing.

COLLECTOR'S ITEM

"Handbags are something of a collector's item, something you can pass down from generation to generation, so it really has value. It is something that also represents a brand," James Ferragamo, grandson of Ferragamo and the brand's director of women's leather goods, said ahead of a dinner launching the new bag. "We want to maintain this in our collection for many years to come."

The Fiamma comes in three sizes, from a mini-version appropriate for the evening to a larger carryall, and has many iterations, from leather, python, crocodile, stingray, calf, to fox. The price ranges from US$1,650 to US$27,000.

Ferragamo underlined the intergenerational aspirations for the bag, reflecting the company's three-generational family history, with an online short-film project featuring mother-daughter and sister pairings from iconic families, including Mariel Hemingway and her daughter Langley Hemingway Fox, that is posted on the brand's website.

Mariel Hemingway said she had no trouble signing on to the project. She's a long-time fan of Ferragamo and appreciated the family tie-in and the chance to work with her daughter. The role of fashion in everyday life hit home for the actress and, more recently, mental health advocate, during a recent speaking engagement in Washington, DC, when she kept getting compliments from strangers on her shoes - a pair of two-tone sandals with a silver buckle by none other than Ferragamo - from the decidedly non-fashion crowd.

"The
point of fashion is not for people to walk the red carpet. It is so
people can live their lives looking fashionable, stylish and beautiful
in any realm they work in," Hemingway said.

PERFECT
BAG

Hemingway's daughter has been test-driving a
mini-black Fiamma, which she said is perfect for her
lifestyle.

"I am not the girl with the briefcase. I am
the girl who takes ChapStick, a wallet and my phone," Langley Hemingway
Fox said by phone from New York.

It's no surprise
that brands are honing their handbag focus. Accessories have proven
themselves recession-resistant, and the economic traction they give
fashion houses is making it more critical for brands to develop an
iconic bag. Ultimately, the customer will decide which bag becomes
iconic.

"I think people want something that endures,"
said Alison Minton, a fashion blogger and handbag enthusiast who
chronicles her passion for accessories on her blog,
accessorygeneration.com. "I think people don't want
to buy a new bag every season, but want a bag that is stylish and
well-made and is going to last."

Minton herself has
faced the 'it' bag temptation. She resisted a friend's offer to pick up
the Louis Vuitton Speedy Graffiti bag in Paris back in its heyday - and
suffered a pang of regret when she saw the prices that the bag was later
fetching on eBay.

Her collection now includes both
icons and personal treasures, including a Birkin bag, a Gucci bag that
her mother bought her in Italy a decade ago, and a Goyard tote bag,
which she said would now be out of her price range.

"Luckily for me, when I bought my iconic bags, things
were not as crazy as they are
now."