Handbag and womenswear designer Rebecca Minkoff is having a great year. Besides being recently inducted into the CFDA, Minkoff, whose bags are sold in more than 400 stores nationwide is expanding her highly coveted arm candy to men yes guys, get ready to sport your man bag with pride. The new line, named Ben Minkoff in honor of the designer’s grandfather, is scheduled for a soft launch for holiday and an official launch in Spring 2011, but I got a sneak peek at the collection led by Minkoff herself at the line’s launch party last night.
As Minkoff unbuckled and unzippered the goods for our close inspection she shared a little insight into the line’s genesis. “We were finding that men knew a bit too much about our Rebecca Minkoff bags, and then we did an April Fools joke newsletter titled ‘Men Love Rebecca Minkoff’ announcing a fake men’s line and we got a really positive response from guys,” Minkoff said. “Even Bryan Boy retweeted it, so we knew there was a market for it.”
So far Saks and Bloomingdale’s along with L.A.-based retailer Confederacy have picked up the Ben Minkoff collection, but come springtime we wouldn’t be surprised to find plenty of other buyers snatching it up. Especially since, though technically tailored towards a male customer (think plenty of pockets and cubby holes), I couldn’t help but plot to snag one myself. In particular, I have my eyes on the plaid tote what can I say, I’m feeling the fall ’90s vibe.
All photos courtesy of Joey D’Arco for StyleCaster
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