The $2600 handbag everyone wants
Actress Gillian Anderson, street style star Miroslava Duma and supermodel Natalia Vodianova with their Nina bags. Images: Getty; Instagram/@miraduma; Instagram/@gabrielahearst
If you caught a glimpse of the latest It bag on the street (we’re thinking Madison Avenue or the Champs Elysee, not Pitt St or Bourke St Mall) you might not appreciate its desirability.
The startlingly simple Nina handbag from budding designer Gabriela Hearst, wife of US media heir Austin Hearst, has become the hottest fashion item since Kanye’s Yeezy boots.
Oscar-winning actress Brie Larson with her exclusive Nina bag. Image: Getty.
Named after jazz singer Nina Simone, the unassuming bag bears a charming resemblance to a fortune cookie and has brought incredible luck to its designer.
Despite its considerable starting price tag of $2600, with the crocodile version being snapped up for $20,855, it takes achingly long months for those on the waiting list to get their hands on the fashion treasure.
"You have to e-mail and find out about us if you want the bag, and then we put you on the waiting list," Hearst told the New York Post. Unlike the rest of her collection, available at Net-a-porter and on her own website, the handbag is by request only.
The collection started with just 20 bags but when a savvy Hearst sent samples to Oscar-winning actress Brie Larson and Russian street style star Miroslava Duma the requests started flooding in.
The Nina handbag comes in a simple palette of colours. The smaller version has been dubbed the Demi. Images: courtesy of Garbriela Hearst
"We had retail stores asking for it, and I said ‘No, we’re going to keep it,’" Hearst told US Vogue. "And we’re not going to sell them online, either. You have to email. If you really want the bag, you have to email."
Although Hearst only launched her label last year, the demand for her accessories has propelled her to speed dial status on the phones of Hollywood’s top stylists but she has no plans to make the collection more readily available.
A backpack is in the works and a smaller version, the Demi named after Demi Moore is now available, but Hearst knows that good things are worth the wait.
See the hottest handbags on the runway here. See the full Gabriela Hearst collection here.
Miroslava Duma and Demi Moore clutching their Demi bags/ Image: Instagram/@miraduma
