Where evening bags are concerned, Poonam Malhotra, a talented Indian designer has got it all right. Her distinctive, high quality and reasonably priced bags are appealing to a growing number of women who are shopping for clothes and accessories that are well made, sold at realistic prices and original.
The global fashion market is currently witnessing an insatiable demand for individualism. A new breed of confident and savvy women is searching for innovative brands between the low end and the high end of the fashion market, or, in other words: Between the cheap and mass produced labels and the exceedingly expensive designer labels.
Malhotra, an hotelier by profession, launched her collection of jeweled evening bags with design edge and quality four years ago in Egypt.
Born in Gujarat, in northwestern India, Malhotra currently lives in Cairo, a city she loves. Still, she says, her native India is an inspiration: “India is a land of inspiration where you can just let your imagination run wild.”
“I felt immediately embraced by this city,” she said of her adopted hometown. Malhotra admits a passion for bags and feels that no woman can have enough bags and shawls. She designs what is in her heart. She describes her bags as “unique pieces of jewelry.”
Made from Indian silk, satin or brocade, the bags come embellished with semi-precious stones such as citrines, turquoise, moonstone, tourmaline, crystal and mother-of-pearl. Other bags are embroidered with gold and silver thread work, the product of an exacting art that requires great skill. India has provided the Arabian Peninsula with metal-thread embroidered textiles for centuries. It is interesting to know that gold and silver embroidery is one of the oldest forms of needlecraft: fragments of gold embroidery date as early as the fourth century B.C.
A jeweled evening handbag can be worn for a formal day event and can also bring a stylish and refined look to casual clothes.
“The most popular colors are gold and black followed closely by silver,” says Malhotra.
There was a time when women wore matching shoes and bags. Today, the fashion diktats have forcibly loosened where bags are concerned. A bag need no longer match the color of the clothes or the shoes. Today it’s acceptable to choose a particular color to create a daring contrasting effect or a unique stylish look.
Malhotra advertises only by word of mouth, which has definitely contributed to her success thanks to the growing demand for truly unique apparel accessories. Although distinct, these precious soiree bags are also classics. They will always be fashionable because they are simply timeless and season less. In fact, jeweled evening bags, which were first launched by Van Cleef & Arpels a hundred years ago, have become highly collectable items. Modern versions are being made, but prices can skyrocket, such as a 80,487-pound Van Cleef & Arpels white gold hard-cased evening bag inlaid with mother-of-pearl and diamonds.
A beautifully crafted soiree bag is definitely not a passing trend: This indispensable basic accessory can last a lifetime.
