Fashion Week Handbags: Mulberry Spring 2013

I’ve been a bit critical about Mulberry (specifically its marketing tactics) over the past season, so believe me when I say this: the Mulberry Willow Tote may very well be the best new day bag we’ll see all season. That’s a hefty mantle to bestow before the handbag heavyweights in Milan and Paris have even finished styling their runway looks, and I may yet be proved wrong, but the the big bag reveal of the Mulberry Spring 2013 show might just be good enough to go the distance.
The tote, pictured above, marks a movement toward increased sophistication for the brand that will likely be welcomed by consumers who shop at Mulberry’s chosen price point. The bags in this collection still have the signature Mulberry branding, but they’re more refined, more chic. (If “chic” isn’t overused to the point of non-meaning at this point, which it probably is.) It’s not just the Willow Tote, with its genius zip-off front panel that doubles as either a clutch or an iPad case, depending on your need at the moment; the Del Rey Bag, of which I have never been any kind of fan, got a nice upgrade for spring with luxurious jacquard prints that take the bag’s somewhat bland structure and elevate it as a canvas for great textiles. Check out all the runway bags after the jump.