fashion

IF you're looking for a traffic-stopping bag, look no further.

Any design from Judith Leiber will grab attention your way, and prove to be the ultimate conversation starter at cocktail parties.

The bags featured are from Judith Leiber. They are patterned classics and novelty pieces. From L to R : the Wrap Clutch, the Black Panther minaudiere, the Bee-Line Slender Curve in honey, Zulu minaudiere, the Luxe Egg with ribbed edges in light amethyst and the Package Cherish in rhine and blue bow.

For its latest season, the bags by Judith Leiber are in the form of patterned classics and novelty pieces.

Take your pick from the varied designs: the Wrap Clutch, the Black Panther minaudiere, the Bee-Line Slender Curve in honey, Zulu minaudiere, the Luxe Egg with ribbed edges in light amethyst or the Package Cherish in rhine and blue bow.

If you're in the mood for something unusual, how about the champagne multi-coloured Gobi Camel, which evokes a reaction that one rarely gets from your average bag. Its two humps serve as the push down closure of the clutch!

The Maharaja Elephant features costuming details, onyx eyes and sculpted ears, tusks,trunk and feet, fully beaded by hand. There is also the camel, which is similarly ornate

As the brand is well-known to capture nature's beautiful creatures in most of its designs, there is the Bee's Knees Beehive with jeweled bee accents. The Windflower is a flower minaudière with sculpted petals and gold accents at the centre

There's also the Maharaja Elephant which features ornate costuming details, onyx eyes, sculpted ears, tusks, trunk and feet – all fully beaded by hand.

Continuing the exotic India motif is the Pietra Dura bag, inspired by the panelling of the Taj Mahal.

For the uninitiated, the brand was founded in 1963 by Judith Leiber (born Judith Peto in 1921 in Budapest, Hungary).

Peto was the first woman to join the handbag-makers guild in Budapest. After World War II, she began making handbags at home and then at a friend's small factory. She met and married an American soldier, Gerson Leiber, and emigrated to the United States in 1948.

After working as a handbag designer for other companies, Leiber founded her own business. Sold at exclusive boutiques around the world, her handbags have become a status symbol for many women including US First Ladies.

Leiber is most famous for her minaudieres, which are often covered in crystals. A Judith Leiber cupcake minaudiere was featured in the Sex and the City movie. – WILLIAM K.C. KEE

n Judith Leiber is priced from RM5,988 to RM25,888. The bags are sold at Tribeca in Suria KLCC, Kuala Lumpur.