More mature glamour by Sara Battaglia

The Sara Battaglia FW16 handbag collection is a story of bold contrasts, patchwork, combinations and discrete, more mature glamour.

This is a time for concreteness, but women are loathe to renounce femininity as embodied by the accessory par excellence: the handbag. Calf leather, napa leather and suede alternate in a pictorial mix of shapes and lines.

Colours have a wintry hue, nocturnal, verging on the dark, with accents of intense light. Burgundy, blue, black, brown and wood green are enlivened by flashes of  fuchsia, sky blue and bright red. Black and white take it in turns in vertical matelassè in the Elizabeth model, or black and white melting into the spectrum of greys; Felicity boasts ruches in contrasting colours.

We have all the elements which have always distinguished Sara Battaglia handbags, but now they speak a new language. The fringes have become delicate appliquè petals in the Roxy models, or travel across the flap in rapid geometric sequences, cascading softly in the Jasmines. The classic triangular closing is the brass buckle of a belt; fixed to the flap it closes and envelops the bag in the Natalie models, or it is a game of combinations in the metal and leather version. The pearl pipping brings a touch of timeless elegance, as does the multi-colour mink and the colourful patchwork of fox fur.

Femininity has an irreverent streak, with a slight hint o punk. So the rigorous shapes of the new Cara are combined with shoulder straps covered in studs and metal eyelets. These eyelets trickle down to cover the side, even ion the punched leather version, and the narrower strap of the Lucy, and on the flap they alternate with straps with fringes in the new Teresa models.