A bagful of retail therapy

Louis Vuitton's new collection for the festive season has some worthy choices. Archana Jahagirdar picks and chooses some of the best.

India has had a good week and the most important part of that goodness has been the way the Sensex has reached 17,000. That takes on special and greater significance if you are the type that believes in spending and in the festival season that is waiting to unfold, spending is de rigeur.

And what better way to do that than to walk into the nearest Louis Vuitton store and indulge in some serious retail therapy. The brand, also popularly known as LV, has just unveiled its new collection for the festive season and we are happy to share some valuable insight into what of that festive range is a must-buy.

Those living in emerging economies try to show off their newfound wealth by enthusiastically buying logo bags and other sundry accessories. What if Indians started to behave as if we were already a superpower and that reflected in how and what we shopped?

This season, buy LV's limited-edition Lockit bags in Suhali leather in gold and silver exterior which is discreet with its branding and looks nifty. Limited edition means that you have to order it in advance and even then there is no guarantee that you will get it.

Carrying one of these will set you apart from the rest of the herd. And if you have no patience for this kind of contrived scarcity, the same Lockit bags are also available in different colours which look equally good and trendy. Another non-logo bag in this collection that is eye-catching is the Speedy bag in Normade leather. The same style is also made with Epi leather. Both get our thumbs-up.

In the last few seasons, the handbag size has become bigger and bigger to reach a point where doctors have stepped in to warn that the bag's size is likely to cause serious damage to the back. But that hasn't dimmed the enthusiasm that ladies have for that XXL size. LV for the festive season has on offer the Neverfull bag in monogram canvas.

Its speciality? It actually never gets full; on a good day you can stuff 200 kg in that bag. Phew! And it's reversible. Who said that luxury isn't functional; you get two bags for the price of one. For the absolute logo junkies, try the more discreet logo bag in Mahina leather. The logo merges with the base colour and looks chic and isn't in-your-face kind of bag and that is something worthy of applause.

In case the male readership of this piece is despairing of having nothing worthy of their perusal, worry not. LV believes in their male clientele as much as it does in their female clients. The Keepall bag is waterproof and it is said of this bag that if you were to immerse it in water completely nothing would happen to the bag, the zip or to the contents of the bag. Useful if one were to go yachting and the yacht were to sink.

If you are a Luddite and still use an ink pen (though interest in retro chic is trendy so the ink pens are cool) the LV ink pen is pretty neat. The green exterior with its 18-carat cap makes the pen a real style statement without being boringly predictable.

If there is some puzzlement as to why prices haven't been mentioned, that's the company's stated policy; they reveal prices on request. We can tell you that it will be a pretty penny, but then luxury never came cheap!