Celine Handbags and Purses

No matter where I go in New York or who I talk to, once people find out what I do for a living, almost all of them ask me if I know where they can get a Celine bag, what I think of the Celine bag they want to buy and if I have a Celine bag myself. As we’ve noted over on BagThatStyle, it seems like a new celebrity pops up carrying one every day, and judging by the long pre-order lists in stores, none of the Celine hysteria is going to abate anytime soon.

Even stock photos of Celine bags can be difficult to round up in one place; stores don’t sell the brand on their websites, so product names and prices are often rumors at best. What we have here, though, is the best collection of Celine Spring and Summer 2012 (Celine splits the season into two separate groups of products) bags that we could find. If you have more to add, please let us know. If not, please enjoy the nearly 60 photos of Phoebe Philo loveliness after the jump.

Image via @BarneysFASHION. Additional images via Kirna Zabete and Celine

I hate Pre-Fall for the same reason that I hate Resort: It’s so hard to get good pictures of the bags, shoes and accessories when the lines debut. Because most designers have small shows or presentations for a very small group of buyers and editors and then simply release lookbook images to the fashion press at large, the detail shots that you get during the big, somewhat public Spring and Fall runway shows are basically nonexistant. Still, though, we do the best we can to sniff out as much information (and as many pictures for you guys) as we can find.

With that in mind, I’ve done some Internet sluething and come up with the best pictures available of Celine Pre-Fall 2011 Handbags. That includes shots from preview-attenders that were posted to Twitter and Facebook, as well as a look at the brand’s official images from the collection. If you spot any we’ve missed floating around on the Internet, let us know and we’ll add them to the gallery.

I’ve been on a Celine kick for quite some time, and just as I thought my obsession begins to subside, I found a bag that makes it flare back up. I’ve gone back and forth trying to decide if I like the Celine Phantom, which is the most recent hit from the brand, and I have finally decided I want it.

With the middle of the bag matching the Luggage Tote that we know, the Celine Phantom expands in size with a more spacious east/west finish. When you zip the bag up, the shape comes back closer to the Luggage Tote, but I really like the bag left larger.

It has been a little while since we all played Who’s that girl? and this week seems to be dragging just a tad, so I’m ready for a little fun. Take a guess at the girl in the picture above carrying her Celine Luggage Tote.

Images via Celine

Despite making some of the most sought-after handbags in the world right now, the Celine runway show is never a reliable place to look for the next It Bag. Phoebe Philo tends to keep her catwalk minimal, so show-watchers only get a chance to see a couple of handbag designs. Luckily, we’ve found some press photos of both the runway bags and a couple that didn’t appear in the show, and we’ve assembled what we know so far of Celine Spring 2012 after the jump. It looks like the brand is in for another can’t-miss accessories season.

Images via Vogue.com

Maddeningly, Celine tends not to show many of its bags on the runway. We get a little glimpse here and there of where Phoebe Philo’s brilliance is headed for the season, but mostly her fans are left waiting for spy pictures to surface to get a better idea of where our money will be headed in the coming months. For Celine Spring 2012, though, my money might be headed straight to the runway bag that you see above.

It’s all in the painted edges, you guys. Otherwise, this might be just a boring (but impeccable) shoulder bag that I would surely notice but might not necessarily consider buying. The neon edges give the bag a subtle but very important step toward modernism, and that’s when Philo’s at her wearable best. The rest of the bags are equally elegant, and I’ll have you note that several of them are hobos – they’re coming back, I swear.

Image via Style.com

At this point, the Fashion Week onslaught from the industry’s media has turned into a furious din of show reviews and Anna Dello Russo pictures that’s starting to drive me just a wee bit off my rocker. One can only look at so many street style photos and catwalk detail shots before one’s brain starts to leak out one’s ear. It’s Friday, and I’m going to pretend like fashion doesn’t exist for the next two days. I’ll catch up on Monday, I promise.

For now, though, I’ll leave you to enjoy the most amusing street style photo I’ve seen all day. This one’s from Style.com’s Tommy Ton, for whom my affection is oft-stated in this space. I believe the image is from London Fashion Week, but I could be wrong. At any rate, it’s two women standing near each other, but not together, with two Celine Luggage Tote that are nearly identical, save for their clearly disparate sizes. (And the colors of their gussets. Ok, so not quite identical.) It’s like the big one birthed the little one. For those of you who are wondering, the little one is a Mini size. The big one? I’m guessing a large, but these things are difficult to gauge from a single photo.

A bag standoff between two Celine giants. In the blue corner, the Celine Cobalt Blue Mini Luggage. Entering the red corner, the luscious Celine Triptyque.

So different, yet both equally lovable. Which one captures your heart?