Margherita Missoni is pretty busy these days. Not only is she five months pregnant and working on a book to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the Missoni house, but next month the 30-year-old will launch the first collection of Missoni handbags designed completely in-house. “The most recognizable, iconic elements of Missoni are colors and knitwear,” said Ms. Missoni. “But those are not elements that could make a consistent handbag collection, and we wanted to create bags that would be able to stand on their own,” she added. The resulting Pre-Fall collection, which was created under the direction of Ms. Missoni and hits stores mid-May, features practical leather and suede totes, satchels, and slouchy square handbags in black, tan, and the house’s signature rust.
Indeed, Ms. Missoni’s designs are easy to wear and, perhaps, less punchy than the house’s typical vibrant knits. But fret not—the new wares still (subtly) boast the brand’s staples. For instance, Ms. Missoni told us that her grandfather sketched out a special zigzag pattern that’s found on each handbag’s jacquard lining. And the pyramidal studs on our favorite black style (above) are actually a reconstructed zigzag shape. “For the summer, we’ll bring back some more Missoni colors, and we’ll start to introduce more fabric where it makes sense,” said Ms. Missoni. The designer hopes the Italian-made bags will become “classics” that will appeal to different women in different ways. And even though Missoni’s latest additions, which range from $1,760 to $5,890, haven’t yet hit the shelves, they’re already turning heads. On her latest intercontinental flight, a fellow passenger asked Ms. Missoni where she bought her bag. “I told her it was Missoni, and she said, ‘I didn’t know they made handbags.’ So I said, ‘They do now!’ ”
