Prada's upcoming 2009 Spring Handbag collection is sooo much better than the current Fall 2008 crop. They still have excess material on the sides of the bags, but instead of the excess being the same material as the entire handbag, it's contrasted and looks much better. I'm also happy to note Prada retired all that lace for the upcoming collection. Lace is nice, but not in the overload of Fall 2008. This season debuts beautiful snakeskins and soft leather, in both the handbag and shoe collections. The look is luxurious and feminine.

I love this night time themed silk clutch by Renaud Pellegrino. It's from his Spring 2009 collection. It reminds me of the children's book "Goodnight Moon".  It's whimsical, yet elegant, and is masterfully detailed. This clutch is finely embroidered with gold and silver thread, sequins, beads, and crystals. I want to get my hands on one of these bags when they come out!

This Sonia Rykiel Ostrich feather handbag is pretty wild. I like it, but I wouldn't buy it. Can you imagine how it would look if it got wet? Yuck. I'm sure it's very soft, and it would make for an interesting conversation, but it would be too high maintenance for me. It's suede covered in ostrich feathers on a nickel frame bag. It will be available Spring 2009.

Here are two of my favorite Balenciaga handbags from the Spring 2009 collection. There is the Classic Iridescent crocodile pouchette and the Lizard Cherche pouchette with blue agate. The clean and simple shape of these bags emphasizes the exotic skins and beautiful colors. Blue Agate is a beautiful, bright stone and looks gorgeous next to the the peach lizard skin. Hopefully we get the chance to actually see these bags in stores, unlike too many of the runway handbags.

Here are the Chanel Cruise handbag collection  for spring/summer 2009. I'm always a bit hesitant to buy bags from "Cruise" collections because they are instantly 'old' when the new cruise collection comes out, where the classic collections are remade for a few seasons or more. If I had an endless supply of money I may feel different, because they are typically more trendy, edgy handbags. As for these, I like the pastel colored bags and especially the metal clutch, otherwise it's a pretty boring collection, imho.

Here are some more of the Spring 2009 Louis Vuitton Handbag Collection, which is my favorite of all the Spring designs. I'm so glad that Marc Jacobs, the Louis Vuitton designer, deemed us the will to dress up in tough times. While many other designers are playing it safe due to the global economy, this collection is anything but, and it's fabulous. I love the bright colors, busy patterns and big colorful adornments. I have never been a fan of the boring brown LV logo print, but in this collection it looks very chic. While most of the handbags from this collection are fun and youthful, we saw some, like the leopard print shoulder bag with black flap and gold chain, that are very classy and sophisticated. I can't say enough about this fabulous Louis Vuitton handbag collection. While I have always been a Gucci girl, this season it's LV for me. 

Tomas Maier, the Bottega Veneta designer, said "it's not a time to be ostentatious" with fashion, seemingly referring to our global economy. It is no surprise, then, that his handbag collection is not only beautiful, but also wearable year round. His version of downbeat luxury in muted browns—caramel through dark saffron, copper, and chestnut—is no less expensive in the execution of amazing fabric treatments and handcrafted leathers than it's ever been. Though Maier may have been conservative in design, but, thankfully, he had a vast selection of sizes and styles, something many other designers have held back.

The 2009 Spring collection had everything from carry alls to clutches, and in as many different materials. Bottega Veneta is famous for it's beautiful woven design, and this season they expanded on that design and made a more open basket weave design. One of the bags in this style was a multi hued amber carry all. Amber, the semi precious gemstone, comes in mostly shades of caramel and brown, but also green and yellow. These colors were the central theme in this collection so it's no surprise that many of the models were wearing amber jewelry. There were also lots of shoulder bags and clutches in patent leather, embossed leather, crocodile, snakeskin, and ostrich. This collection is by far my favorite from Bottega Veneta. I think Thomas Maier achieved his goal of creating beautiful and classic handbags that can be worn and re-worn for years to come.

The Versace Spring 2009 Handbag collection debuted rich textures and lovely, wearable handbags. In the past, some of Donatella's designs have been quite tacky, but that is not evident here. She created a classy metal and crystal clutch, as well as a crocodile clutch with crystal snap closure. We saw white leather basket weave carry alls, and sophisticated gold silk frame bags. She did have one bag with a crazy print that I thought was on the ugly side, but just one.  In a season when many designers have been hedging their bets with practical accessories, Donatello seems to have followed suit. She was equally as tame with her shoe collection. As well as her ready to wear garments.

I have mixed feelings about the Burberry Prorsum Spring 2009 Handbag collection. While Christopher Bailey, The Burberry designer, displayed gorgeous textures and materials, the colors were bland, especially for spring (same problem with the shoe collection). We saw handheld clutches with matching wide wrist bracelets, and large slouchy totes in many different materials. Burberry uses exotics, crocodile and snakeskin, and pairs it with burlap, a possible trend for this season. While I really like this combination, if it is indeed a trend, it may date the bag as "out" too soon. It's for this reason that I try not to spend loads of money on anything trendy. I was pleased that there was no plaid on the runway. I know that plaid has made Burburry a household name, but even in the pinks and blues we have seen in past seasons, it just doesn't look right in spring or summer.

Frida Giannini, the designer for Gucci, is different from Milan's other female designers. There was absolutely no runway fantasia in her show, it was strictly ready to wear on the streets. While I applaud her pragmatic standpoint, I was a bit shocked that she only offered 3 handbag designs in this collection.  There was an up-sized, slouchier, hand-stitched "New Jackie" (which is a fantastic handbag), a utilitarian backpack that transforms into a carryall, and a clutch. She did the "New Jackie" in every possible material from the GG logo to exotics like crocodile and snakeskin. One version had the GG logo with snakeskin front pockets. Same thing with the backpack, but the was only one version of the clutch (which I didn't really care for). The "New Jackie" is a classy and beautiful handbag and would look gorgeous with any outfit, especially a business suit. But with only one out of three designs that I liked from this collection, I thought the handbags were an overall disappointment. Especially after the horrible Fall 2008's Babouska collection. In Giannini defense she has steered the Gucci label in a more chic business like direction, so the lack of frills and wild color combinations makes sense, but I would have liked to see more variety. And do we really need a backpack?