In the Bag

You can take it with you! First the bra, then slippers and specs -- now celebrated designer Samuele Mazza has unleashed legions of artists and designers on the handbag. Consider the luggage: Filled with our most valuable possessions, we hold tight to purse and briefcase like talismans. If lost or stolen, we are humbled, vowing renewed diligence in their care. In the Bag turns the artist's eye on this font of security, with astonishing results. Almost two hundred original renditions reflect the bags we carry every day--including the trademark shopping bags of Tiffany's and Bloomingdale's --and those we only dream of: a mossy log cum evening clutch, a skull-and-crossbones mini-pack. At turns delightful and disturbing, these new interpretations make for an amusing and provocative addition to the Mazza legacy. With a foreword and three essays exploring concepts of baggage, portability, and containment, In the Bag is all a reader needs to carry on in high style.