Personalizing Purses.(the trend in handbags)(Brief Article)

When Anya Hindmarch's close friend had a baby, the London accessories designer came up with a novel gift: a satin handbag with the baby's photo on it. It wasn't a big stretch for Hindmarch; her eponymous company had been printing kitschy photos on handmade bags for years. But her friend so loved the gift that Hindmarch, 33, decided to make personalized bags available to all her customers, donating the proceeds to cancer charities. She kicked off the venture, called Be a Bag, by inviting 150 celebrities to submit images for bags and got some amusing results, including Sting and Trudie Styler's son, Ewan McGregor's motorcycle and a close-up of Elton John's glasses. Now available at Anya Hindmarch stores or www.beabag.com until May, these personalized bags can be made from a print, e-mail or CD-ROM image, and run $170 to $210. "So often now, you get what companies make, not what you want," says Hindmarch. "With Be a Bag you have a say. That's a real luxury these days."

There aren't many true fashion luxuries left. Handbags remain one of the most accessible--and affordable--items in a woman's luxury wardrobe, and can communicate taste, refinement and social status in a glance. Still, in recent years certain luxury-brand bags, like Chanel's quilted purse and Fendi's baguette, have become nearly as commonplace as Nikes on a teenager's feet. Happily, now there are a handful of designers making personalized bags for women who want what they carry to reflect who they are--not just how much they spent.

Celebrities, naturally, are leading the trend. Madonna, Cher, Susan Sarandon and Julianne Moore are all devotees of Brazilian-born leather craftsman Carlos Falchi, who is based in New York. An original hippie designer, Falchi adorns his hand-sewn buffalo-hide bags with suede fringe, leather flowers and beads. They retail from $250 to $5,000 at Barneys and Neiman Marcus in the United States, Harrods and Selfridges in London and his own store in Tokyo. He got his start in the late '60s, when he met Miles Davis, who in turn introduced him to Tina Turner. Falchi went on tour with Turner in 1970 and decked her out in sexy, swinging hand-cut fringes. Another loyal client, Gigi Hancock-- jazz artist Herbie Hancock's wife--suggested that Falchi try to sell at Henri Bendel. "I put together a bunch of my stuff in a big bag that I had made," Falchi remembers. "They loved the pants, they loved the jacket, but they especially loved the bag." Falchi believes his bags are popular today not only because they go perfectly with the current hippie-fashion revival but also because women are seeking individuality in a world of homogenization. "A handbag is a very personal thing," he says. "You can't be told what to wear."

Even some of the big leather-goods makers are moving away from signature styles. Tomas Maier, the ...