One of the most well recognized bag in the designer handbag game is the Celine Luggage tote. Often referred to as the “Smiley face bag” due to it’s design which kind of looks like it has face, the Parisian brand has taken the fashion industry by storm for it’s cool, minimalist design. 

The Céline fashion house was originally started up by Céline Vipiana, a french fashion designer. During Vipiana’s lifetime, the brand only took off slightly. It was only after her death, when Pheobe Philo, a British designer, was appointed as the creative director in 2008, did this Parisian brand really take off.

Since her acquisition of Céline, Phoebe Philo’s work has redefined what women should aspire to wear. The new minimalist aesthetic, clean lines and tonal colour palette that has taken over the brand, has come to be regarded as the epitome of chic, and has been the inspiration for other brands. The brand is consistently name checked by fashion insiders as the label they want to wear. Philo has successfully resuscitated a tired Parisian house and recast it as an imperative part of each season’s fashion dialogue.

Philo studied at Central St Martins, before joining her friend Stella McCartney at Chloé as her first assistant in 1997. The designer arrived in Paris to take up her role with gold plated teeth. Following McCartney’s exit from Chloé, Philo took over the reins of the house as creative director.

Over the next five years Philo made Chloé one of the hottest invites of Paris fashion week, and a commercial success. Riffing on the house’s archive, Philo’s designs were effortless, elegant and feminine: baby doll dresses, high wasted jeans and wooden wedges, not to mention the world conquering, Paddington bag. (The Business of Fashion)

The luggage tote comes in four different sizes and a spectrum of color combinations. From largest to smallest, it comes in a Medium, Shoulder, Mini and Nano.

In 2011, she was awarded International Designer of the Year by the Council of Fashion Designers of America. Both prizes were awarded for her work at Céline.

Whilst still involved with ready-to-wear, the brand is most famous for their luxury handbags.

The Luggage totes start at $2,700 for the nano and go up to $5,000 some cases. A bag that is almost as popular by the brand is the “Trapeze” which comes in two sizes and is around the same price range.

Michael Kors, famously known for his own brand today was a former designer for Céline from 1997-2004, but then left to work on his own brand. The brand owns a hundred stores worldwide and is distributed amongst a selective network of department stores which include Neiman Marcus, Harrods and Bergdorf Goodmans.

Phoebe Philo | BoF 500 | The Business of Fashion.” Phoebe Philo | BoF 500 | The Business of Fashion. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2015.