Excusez-moi, Céline, mi dispiaci, Fendi — this season has a new It bag, designed right here in New York City. Created by Manhattan transplants Rachel Mansur (originally from Los Angeles) and Floriana Gavriel (from Berlin), the Mansur Gavriel line of fall handbags are chic, simple, handcrafted with vegetable-tanned Italian leather and, of course, impossible to get.
But its Big Apple pedigree isn’t the only thing separating Mansur Gavriel’s line from the Prada pack. There’s also the price tag, which at $495 is well below the normal fee for fashion arm candy; as the Blair Waldorf set can tell you, most status bags ring up at a rent-rivaling $1,000 or more.
“But these are not a ‘status bag,’ and that’s exactly why I like them,” says artist Garance Doré, an early Mansur Gavriel adopter who hyped its black bucket bag in June to her massive online fashion devotees, including a quarter-million Twitter followers.
“So many bags use heavy hardware or fringe or logos, and it’s just too much!” Doré explains. “But this bag, as soon as I saw it, I said, ‘Wow.’ The quality is exceptional. The details — the way it’s one long piece of black leather, and lined with another piece of red leather inside — they are so right. To have something so cool — not trendy, just cool — for that price? I had to have it.”
She’s not the only one: Industry insiders like celebu-stylist Rachel Zoe, Lucky magazine editor Laurel Pantin, Vogue favorite and StopItRightNow.com founder Jayne Min, and Fashionista.com’s Lauren Sherman have all rhapsodized about Mansur Gavriel’s handbags. Who’s notably not carrying them — at least not yet? The celebrities who usually launch It bag crazes. (Witness: Alexa Chung and her Mulberry satchel, Rihanna and her Stella McCartney clutch, and Miranda Kerr’s ever-present Balmain x Aurélie Biedermann tote.)
Despite fashion’s usual fame cycle, Mansur Gavriel bags have so far steered clear of appearing in any paparazzi photos. “Of course,” smiles Doré, “that makes them even cooler for some people, no?”
Oui. In fact, the bag’s anonymous elegance is part of its appeal to the fashion pack, along with its magical ability to fit just about everything in- side. (Think Mary Poppins’ carpetbag, if it got a French Vogue makeover.) That throw-it-all-in quality is intentional, according to the designers, who told The Post they value versatility and practicality above flash. “Our tote is great for everyday needs,” says Mansur, “whether you’re carrying a laptop or beach gear.”
The design duo’s laid-back visions for their bags mirror their own story. They met at a concert for the cool London band the xx, traded sketches and photographs, and finally decided to work together in the name of great style.
“We go through a lot of trial and error in regards to the construction, and we pay a lot of attention to detail: the thickness of the leather, the stitching size, the painted edges,” Gavriel says. “We produce many, many iterations [of a bag] before we go into production.”
As for their secret weapon — the shock of color lining the neutrally hued bags, reminiscent of Christian Louboutin’s clever scarlet soles — the emerging style stars say it wasn’t rocket science: “We realized how happy a bright, sunshine yellow can be, or how sharp black with red can look together.”
That’s great, but how exactly can you buy these impossible-to-snag unstatus symbols? You have a few options:
Option 1. Reach out to the designers directly, via mansurgavriel.com. “If you’re having a hard time finding the bag, just contact us!” says Mansur. “We’ll let you know when and where it will be back in stock.” That’s an admirably democratic response and a good plan if you’re OK with waiting. (Real New Yorkers can keep reading.)
Option 2. Visit a Steven Alan boutique (stevealan.com). He tells us, “I knew Mansur Gavriel would be an instant hit when every girl in our office had one picked out before it even arrived in stores.” A new shipment just hit the sales floor at his stores citywide, though he warns: “They’re going fast.”
Option 3. Call Bird boutique in Park Slope (718-768-4940), where the shop clerks will take down your name, number and bag request, and call the indie fashion chain’s other locations to (hopefully) secure your dream bag. The only caveat: It’ll only hold the bag if you give your credit card digits via phone.
Option 4. Try your luck with Net-a-Porter.com, which just put four of Mansur Gavriel’s must-have totes online. The infamous black-and-red bucket bag sold out within 12 hours, but several others — including large and small totes in the same vampy colors — are still available.
Option 5. Take a trip to Rachel Mansur’s hometown and visit Madison Los Angeles (310-820- 2300) where, according to an in-the-know sales clerk, a new shipment is expected to arrive by the end of the month. Try to get there before frequent shoppers Rihanna and Nicole Richie — and before New York’s coolest anti-It bag turns into a Hollywood style staple.