Many top designers over the past few years have made secondary lines for more affordable retailers, such as Vera Wang’s Simply Vera for Kohl’s and Isaac Mizrahi’s line made for Target. Jimmy Choo is the next designer brand to do a line for worldwide retailer H&M and, according to an article published in The Telegraph, this new line of clothes for H&M will include both men’s and women’s fashions, as well as shoes and handbags.

For shoes and handbags, Jimmy Choo has been the brand of choice, seen on celebrities and mentioned in television shows like Sex and the City. As mentioned in this article, the shoes and handbags are the center of the outfit, while the clothes are the accessory.

As fashion magazines and television shows make the average person pine for high fashion, Jimmy Choo at H&M will offer the same or similar styles but at prices more affordable to the average shopper. H&M already collaborates with other designers like Stella McCartney and Karl Largerfeld to create fashionable and stylish but affordable clothing, and Jimmy Choo is next in that line up. While the fashions aren’t expected to appear at H&M until November 14, this article offers a peek of the upcoming fashions based on Jimmy Choo designs at H&M.

Not all H&M locations will be offering this line of clothing, however, and, as mentioned in the Telegraph article, only 200 stores worldwide will be carrying the clothing, with multiple locations in England but none listed, yet, in the US. If you’re looking for an affordably-priced Jimmy Choo handbag, H&M is one option instead of resorting to knockoffs and designer-inspired handbags. If the H&M location at your local mall doesn’t carry any handbags from the Jimmy Choo line, the website for H&M has a store locator, which can help with finding the closest store selling Jimmy Choo.

An official summer collection has not surfaced yet for Christian Audigier’s latest line, but Ed Hardy has been and continues to be a hot commodity in 2008 and 2009. From teens to twenty-something club kids to A-list celebrities, the Ed Hardy line is everywhere, much like Audigier’s last high profile line, Von Dutch (trucker hats, anyone?), from a few years ago. So, what makes this line so special that it even has its own imitators in the knockoff market?

It’s the tattoo, style, really, that seems to have caught on so much that even Coach is imitating it for this summer’s collection. The most basic Ed Hardy handbag designs – as well as the rest of the clothing in this line – consist of a solid color field with one of these large, somewhat airbrushed style tattoo designs dominating the surface. The tattoos themselves are basic tattoo designs – skulls and roses of many shades but no “Mother,” hearts with arrows, or girlfriends’ names. These tattoos are then embellished with rhinestones or metal studs on both handbags and clothing for men and women. To state the obvious, when compared to even the flashiest designer handbags, these Ed Hardy bags are different. Gaudiness aside, the bags have a punkish style for the designer crowd, safety pins not included, and have a name attached. Although not on the same nadir as designer flannel and ripped jeans from the early ‘90s, these handbags are, in a sense, the designer version of rebellious, youthful style.

But, really, much like the Von Dutch line, the tattoo patterns on Ed Hardy bags and clothing are confined to a narrow scope and what is a hot commodity now will soon be replaced by something as equally high priced and pseudo-rebellious. To move to the next level and keep these styles relevant for the next few years, it appears that on bags for 2009, the color factor has been upped a few levels on women’s handbags. No longer are the familiar tattoo patterns on a field of black or white but, instead, sit on a field of yellow, lavender, or aqua marine and almost blend into the colored field. The tattoo drawings, themselves, have also been altered for women’s designs, with other options including tattoo women drawings and red and yellow swimming koi fish.

No doubt Ed Hardy will disappear in a few years, in the same way as fashionable flannel, trucker hats, and clear cola have all passed, and Audigier will start another line. But, if these handbags are your thing – and, as said earlier, they are on everyone these days – relish in the fashion moment with these new candy-colored designs.

Coach is one of those borderline handbag brands – some consider it in the top echelon of designer bags, while others see it as the most basic of designer handbags with a style that seldom changes. Coach really hasn’t changed their style significantly over the past decade, with the most popular designs seen on women of all ages being the brown and tan or cream-colored “C” pattern. While something like this would’ve been popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s when brand names were plastered across all pieces of clothing, handbags included, it’s been out of style for a number of years, and Coach, although still keeping the famous “C” design, has switched up their styles and color choices. And, appropriate for the time, they’re also brought back the ‘80s slouch handbag to go with other ‘80s retro fashions like skinny jeans, large Day-Glo earring, and cropped jackets.

Coach’s handbag collection from earlier in 2009 brought the Resort Collection. The title and styles are more appropriate for a summer collection, with such styles introduced as python print with metallic coloring and pink tote styles for both large and small handbags. The “C” logo is still present on many bags in this collection, only the color combination focused on brighter shades, like pink, blues, and light yellow, and, as a result, the “C” logo pops out much better than any tan-on-brown handbags from five years ago. Some examples of these Coach bags include:

Coach’s collection for the upcoming summer, however, focuses less on the shades of pink and leather beach-bag style and, instead, opts for retro-inspired handbags as their strongest designs. These bags use the same old Coach colors, only this season, they’re in metallic shades. The slouch purse style popular in the ‘80s is now referred to as a hobo handbag – here called an “ali hobo” – because of its spaciousness. While many of these are solid colored, some are still printed with the “C” logo in serif and sans serif styles. Unfortunately, as Coach knock-off handbags often differentiate themselves with a sans serif font, the sans serif “C” logo Coach bags resemble knockoffs somewhat. Aside from this aspect, these slouch or hobo Coach handbags can come with a zipper top or a side flap and come in sizes from a clutch to a shoulder bag.

The only questionable handbags in Coach’s summer collection are the Tattoo Canvas Tote bags, all of which bear a strong resemblance to any handbag by Ed Hardy, only with a Coach label, no rhinestones, and washed out colors. If this is one way to compete with Ed Hardy’s styles, Ed Hardy bags still have the upper hand with this tattoo style.

For all Coach designs for this upcoming summer, check Coach’s website for the full product line.

All clothes have some sort of history, whether it’s a personal history involving how long you’ve had that handbag, memories involving that piece of clothing, or the evolutionary history of a piece of clothing like, for example, different skirt lengths and styles over the centuries. A handbag is an essential item for many women – dare you leave home without it! – and, similar to many other pieces of women’s clothing, has gone through numerous style changes over the years, from being hidden inside skirts up through the 18^th Century to being seen as a sign of independence to wealth, assuming you can afford a designer handbag and don’t carry a knock-off in the present day.

MATRIX:MIDLAND, an arts festival of sorts in Michigan, bought Purse Universe, a discussion and presentation about the history of handbags held on June 10. This isn’t a fashion show, however, with models displaying handbag styles worn over the past four centuries and, instead, is a discussion about how handbags – and their purpose – have changed over the years.

Fashion discussions and exhibits aren’t anything new. In fact, your local art college probably has a few fashion discussions, with experts coming a few times per year to talk about new and innovative designs. Although these probably include handbags, handbags deserve their own discussion panel. If you live in Michigan and think of fashion as more than the latest trends that’ll be gone in a few months, were you able to catch this event? Did it offer any new perspectives on handbags?

Carlos Santana may be “Smooth” – but he designs handbags, too. A contest on Latina.com recently has put Carlos Santana handbags up online, although Santana’s clothing design experience mostly now exists with women’s footwear.

Although celebrities design or inspire merchandise, with Jessica Simpson and Gwen Stefani coming to mind for trendy clothes and purses, how do Santana’s bags size up against the competition? These particular bags in the Latina.com competition have a typical style for 2009 – spacious, bold-colored, and with a patent leather-like finish. These specific handbags, although keeping up with the trends of 2009, use western and bold earth-tone colors which, although a bit different from the lime greens and yellows or dark blues seen on many handbags in 2008 and 2009, don’t offer anything innovative. Although nothing particularly special, these bold, solid-colored handbags would match with a variety of outfits of subdued colors – skinny jeans and a solid colored or patterned shirt are probably your best bet for these bags – and surely stand out.

So, why the addition of fashion to music? Although, marketing-wise, attaching the name of a musician who was known best in the 1960s and ‘70s, with a comeback in 2000, to a clothing line geared toward teens and twentysomethings seems odd – does anyone these days under the age of 18 even remember “Smooth”? – the fact that the handbags and shoes are stylish and relevant to current fashion trends makes them relevant. Name aside, it’s still a designer handbag and, although it’s not on the same level as, say, Kate Spade or Gucci, but it is designer enough for many women to want one.

According to Entertainment Tonight, celebs auctioned off their handbags this past week to raise money for the aftermath of the earthquake that occurred in Italy in April.

But this isn’t an ordinary celebrity clothing auction. First off, on the level of pure handbag fanaticism, designer Salvatore Ferragamo has donated some of his handbag designs to the auction. Ferragamo, whose man bags scream high-end style for all occasions, also signed his creations that were donated to the auction.

The high point of the event, in fact, isn’t Ferragamo’s bags but, instead, the signed and kissed – yes, kissed – handbags from celebrities on the A- and B-lists. Celebrities ranging from Jennifer Aniston, Marisa Tomei, Demi Moore, Madonna, and Kelly Clarkson to Jonathan Rhys Meyers (remember Velvet Goldmine?) donated their handbags and signed them – or signed and kissed them – for the auction. The auction, titled Stars for a Cause, itself was held June 9^th, 7 p.m, in Los Angeles.

The event, however, wasn’t just for handbags. Celebrities donated some of their clothes for the auction, and this included a pair of shoes by Twilight actor Taylor Lautner, according to LimeLyfe. Aside from the fact Lautner had about three lines in the entire movie, you can be sure some lucky Twilight fan picked up those shoes and now has them enshrined in her (or his) bedroom.

As far as the handbags are concerned, no specific designers were listed for the event, aside from the donated Ferragamo handbags, although you can safely assume these were no knock-offs. So, designer handbags signed by celebrities and even auctioned for a cause? Can a handbag get so all-around perfect?