Viviana Volpicella, Eva Fontanelli, Enrica Ponzellini, Tamu McPherson, and J.J. Martin with their custom-made Parmeggiani creations. Photographed by Tamu McPherson.
Five women who work in fashion in Milan recently received a fantasy assignment from the crocodile experts at Parmeggiani: “Invent your ideal handbag,” offered Wilma Parmeggiani, who together with her husband Franco run the boutique label in Modena. “It can be any shape, in any color and our artisans will stitch it up exactly as you’ve envisioned it.”
Parmeggiani, which was founded in 1970, is a classic example of highly skilled workers that quietly toil out of the limelight and away from the big brand ethos. The quality of their product is unmatched, their hand craft is impeccable. I’m not an accessories designer, but I was certainly ready to act like one—especially since I’m on a permanent search for the perfect work bag.
“Can it be big enough to carry my computer?” I asked Wilma, hopefully. “Of course,” she quickly replied. I showed Wilma the messy contents of my current work bag which included my Mac Book Air, a disorganized jumble of documents and folders, a leather makeup bag, a small python pouch for business cards, another for credit cards and a sea of pens floating around the bottom. “My dream is to give harmony to this chaos,” I told her solemnly. “I need the ultimate portable office.”
At the same time, four other girls were holding their own private meetings with Wilma at Parmeggiani’s small showroom in Milan: Vogue Gioiello’s Enrica Ponzellini, Elle Italia’s Eva Fontanelli, blogger Tamu McPherson and LaDoubleJ.com’s Fashion Director Viviana Volpicella. None of us knew what the other girl was dreaming up until we all got together a few weeks back in the Era Studio Apartment in Milan to see the final results and to be photographed by the talented Tamu McPherson.
Below you’ll see each girl’s bag and hear the motivation behind each design. All the bags are made to order through LaDoubleJ.com. You can order one of the exact bags you see below, or you can request different colors. Anything, as we all learned, is possible with Parmeggiani.
Viviana Volpicella
lViviana
My bag represents very much my own personal mood – a bit hippie! A bit Gypsetter! My mother had natural colored crocodile bags like this one and never gave them to me– she still has all of them. When I go back home to Bari, I can use them but I can’t take them away which his very annoying. So this is my first crocodile bag. I wanted it very classic and in a natural brown. I added a bit of fringe for a street look. I love the long thick strap because I like the bag to hit my thigh. Today I feel like too many bags are too short. Inside is a little mirror that’s another tradition of my mother’s era with its own envelope. I’ll wear this with everything. It’s an evergreen. You can wear it any season, any time. If you take off the fringe, it could work for a proper Signora. I imagine wearing it with a sweater, maybe a mink coat. My mother always had a mink coat and a crocodile bag. It’s very Italian. I can’t wait to show it to my mom—she’ll be jealous!
Click here to order your very own Viviana Bag or contact laservice@ladoublej.com directly!
Enrica Ponzellini
lEnrica
When I started this project I thought about myself and what I really, really need. The idea was to do something really sophisticated but at the same time very practical. My style in general has a day-to-day practical feel. So I did one bag for day and one for night. For the day ‘bag,’ I thought about when I’m on a fashion shoot and I never have pockets. So this bag is matte Bordeaux colored with a blue strap and only contains my big Iphone6 and my credit cards which is basically all I need. Some people asked me, “What about your keys?” but I have a doorman in Milan an he’s there 24 hours a day so I don’t need them. For evening, I wanted to do a pochette. I hate chains. It’s small as well. I don’t like big bags at night– there’s no where to put them and I don’t like bags on the floor so this needed to be small enough to put on the dinner table or on your lap. Mine is dark olive on the outside and has a baby pink lining and zip divider insider.
Click here to order your very own Enrica Bag or contact laservice@ladoublej.com directly!
J.J. Martin
lJ.J.
I have been on a never-ending holy grail for a clean, classic bag that is transversal enough to wear every day to the office. They are oddly hard to find. I wanted something with a very classic shape so I did a retro, trapeze-like form that is narrower up top and wider at the bottom. It was super important to me that the bag be rigid so it wouldn’t get sad and cave under the weight of my stuff. I chose a dark hunter green crocodile for the outside and added a strip of grey along the bottom just to give it a little sporty kick. The inside is fully lined in red calfskin which is a juicy surprise. The best part of this bag is all of the matching accessories: a green envelope bag with grey strip to house my computer (but it can also double as an evening clutch), a large grey grey pouch with green strip for my makeup (that can double as a smaller clutch if necessary) and small pouches in red, green and grey for my business cards, credit cards and money (that can be slipped into the clutches for evening). The purse has pockets for my iphone, keys and pens and a zipped divider that keeps all of my documents organized. It’s a portable office paradise!!
Click here to order your very own J.J. Bag or contact laservice@ladoublej.com directly!
Eva Fontanelli
lEva
My idea was to take a very classic tote style and mix it with some very fun details. I started with the concept of the little flags that small Italian towns fly during their festivals. And then I started thinking about children’s birthday parties with their flags. And then, when we started recreating these flags as trim on the Greek blue crocodile bag it created a kind of dinosaur effect. My bag kind of looks like a little monster with a spine! I like to think of it as ‘monster cute.’ I always put a pochette inside my big work bags. So I also created a little baby crocodile purse with a crocodile flag trim and chain that straps onto the front of the other bag like a baby would to its mother. I did that so it wouldn’t get mixed up with my work stuff and get ruined. I thought practically. I’ll use this big bag during the day and the other for night.
Click here to order your very own Eva Bag or contact laservice@ladoublej.com directly!
Tamu McPherson
lTamu
I like backpacks a lot. They’re chic and cute. I have been using a really ugly work backpack for a while now and I’ve always wanted a really cool backpack. So I decided to make a crocodile backpack in a matte olive green. There’s a pocket inside, and in addition to the two back-straps, there is a single handle at the top so you can carry it like a purse. There’s also a tassel closure detail that I love. I can’t wait to use this bag for work and I’ll probably use it during fashion week when I need to be hands free. It’s perfect for street style photography and happens to be really chic too.
Click here to order your very own Tamu Bag or contact laservice@ladoublej.com directly!
Click here to order or contact laservice@ladoublej.com directly !
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