Versace goes green with bags

Only yesterday we were talking about Gianni Versace. I was wearing ‘Versus – time for pleasure’ Eau de Toilette and it reminded me that he was one of Princess Diana’s favourite designers. Since his death in 1997 the company has continued under the leadership of his brother and sister, Santo and Donatella. This month the first consignments of the long-awaited Versace Shopper Handbag will arrive for those lucky customers who pre-ordered. The price is pretty steep at around $2000, but for that you get two bags for the price of one really. You leave home with the two bags together, looking like one fashionably oversized designer tote. Then when you reach the shops, separate the bags and use the stylish larger bag for carrying your purchases. The small dome clutch bag now carries your wallet and make-up neatly.

The design is slick and smart, with a mixture of soft black matt suede leather plus a shiny crocodile and patent look for the tote. This is finished with a long black drawstring through silver eyelets – just enough contrast without too much bling. The shoulder bag is a blend of patent and crocodile to give an upmarket city handbag, with enough contrast to prevent it being just another black bag.

Top marks to the house of Versace for the shopper, the first so-called green bag with a decent design. I am heartily sick of seeing all the ‘right-on’ reusable shopping bags in that dreary shade of oatmeal that is overused on anything with an eco slant. The smug looks on the faces of the women carrying them are pretty hard to take as well. If global warming and energy saving are a reality for all of us (which they are), there is nothing to stop us from adapting while retaining a sense of style and aesthetics, like a few freshwater pearls here and there.

If you use your Versace shopper every day for forty years, that is equivalent to the cost of buying two carrier bags a day at the supermarket, so you can console yourself with the thought that you saved all that money and got two bags for the price of one.