Images via Moda Operandi

As not only a fan of Alexander Wang but also an owner and wearer of both his clothes and accessories, I always look forward to new stuff popping up from him anywhere I might find it. When I saw the listing for the Alexander Wang Spring 2012 presale on Moda Operandi last week, I got especially excited, but now that it’s here, the handbag offerings look a tad…disappointing.

Photo via Vogue

I’m a big lover of Alexander Wang‘s accessories, and when the designer debuted a boxy, hefty wristlet called the Alexander Wang Jade Bag for Spring 2011, I was so stoked. I was totally going to get one. The heft, the proportion, the hardware caps on the corners – it was perfection! Except that when I finally got to play with one of these precious little darlings, the bag had one very noticeable design flaw.

Images via Vogue.com

Whether you like it or not, Alexander Wang is bound and determined to make backpacks happen. And if he has his way, golf bags, too. Or, at the very least, leather backpacks so long that they look like they might hold a set of junior-size clubs. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Alexander Wang Spring 2012 Handbags is a collection full of backpacks both great and small.

Alexander Wang Raphael Crossbody, $680 via Neiman Marcus

A couple of weeks ago, I found myself eating lunch in Soho with a friend while the Alexander Wang sample sale was in full swing. When we walked by and saw that there was no line, we could help but go in and poke around. I found a pair of amazing black brocade leggings from Resort 2011 that I can’t wait to wear once the weather is cold enough, but the thing that caught my eye the most was the Alexander Wang Raphael Crossbody Bag.

We all know Alexander Wang as The Boy King of Downtown Cool, which means that his clothes and accessories are often black, grey and sullen. And while some of us (read: me) like that look, it doesn’t really fit in with the idea of a resort collection or what most people want to wear when weather first starts to turn warm.

If you look at pictures of the Alexander Wang Fall 2011 show or read our recap of the accessories, you may have noticed something: There weren’t any handbags. Instead, Wang debuted his first collection of small leather goods on his fall catwalk. Starting this Friday at 6 a.m. New York time, that collection is going to be available to the public for one day only, exclusively through a very special partner – eBay.

We’d like to send our warmest PurseBlog congratulations out to Alexander Wang, who was named Accessory Designer of the Year at Monday night’s Council of Fashion Designers of America annual awards gala, which honors achievement in American design. We think that the CFDA made a great choice; few designers have captured the rapt attention of the accessories world in as convincing manner as Wang.

When I think of the Alexander Wang aesthetic up to this point, I always have a piece made of matte, slouchy black leather in mind. Not only has Wang made his accessories name with handbags that fit that description, but his clothing line can often be described with exactly the same words. For Alexander Wang’s Fall 2011 Handbags, though, the designer is mining the opposite end of the spectrum – the best designs from this collection are almost defiantly glossy and structured.

Alexander Wang Trudy Lambskin Tote, $875 via Bergdorf Goodman

Somehow, the two photos above are of the same bag, the Alexander Wang Trudy Lambskin Tote. They’re also from the same website, BergdorfGoodman.com. And yet, they’re completely different. One is an insightful peek at what a bag might look and feel like in person, and the other can best be described as an impediment to making those decisions.

We started the week with a discussion of an Alexander Wang bag that literally did not work at all, so it’s only fitting that we end the week with one of Wang’s bags the works on almost every level – the Alexander Wang Marion Mini Flap Bag. I got a chance to play with this bag during the same trip to Barneys as the ill-fated Jade clutch, and the results were much more satisfying.