DALLAS — Oscar de la Renta followers got a preview of the company’s spring handbag relaunch over Champagne at the designer’s store here at NorthPark Center.
Virva Launo — who joined de la Renta six months ago as vice president of handbag design and development after freelancing for the likes of Tom Ford, Reed Krakoff and Donna Karan — was on hand to introduce her work along with Annelie Hofstrom, executive vice president, footwear.
“My mission is to translate the design ethos from ready-to-wear to the bags,” Launo said. “I’m bringing old couture techniques, materials and color into bags of now. We want them to stand on their own.”
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She crafted a small collection of frame bags, including a cord-embroidered trapezoid clutch in solid cobalt, bright yellow and black. Looks range from minaudières beaded in Japan to a ladylike top-handle camel day bag made of a single piece of rolled leather. Many of the bags sport tigereye and onyx clasps, alligator or leather details and contrasting suede interiors in a nod to de la Renta’s linings. The company plans to carry the bags in its 12 stores and is showing them to domestic and international accounts, Hofstrom said.
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“We’re very proud of the limited line and have big plans for our handbags,” Alex Bolen, the company’s chief executive officer, said. He declined to project sales. “Building a handbag business is not the easiest thing in the world,” Bolen acknowledged. “There are a lot of people who do a great job and don’t want to lose any shelf space….We’ve had so many false starts that, really, my goal is to give the customer a clear idea of what an Oscar de la Renta bag is. If we can do that and bring something to market that is not already there, something that is distinctly Oscar de la Renta, then we have achieved a lot.”