Well, this is strange. Or at least I think it is; you guys can be the final judge. To celebrate the global Fashion Weeks (which kick off today – everyone say a little prayer for me and my sanity) this season, Miu Miu is launching a grand total of 46 one-of-a-kind bags starting with 16 at the brand’s Prince Street boutique in New York. The bags went on sale this morning, with the remaining 30 showing up in London, Milan and Paris over the next few weeks.

All of the designs are a variation on the same theme – a small, ladylike satchel with an oversized frame that made its debut on the Spring 2012 runway. The materials vary from printed wovens to studded crocodile and the prices go from $1495 on up, but I’m not sure that there’s a single bag in this group on which I’d spend the money, not even for something one-of-a-kind from one of my all-time favorite designers. Check out the New York bags after the jump.

If you remember my post about Miu Miu’s Spring 2012 runway bags, then you probably remember feeling the same disappointment that I did about the collection. Despite a hit here and there over the past five years with the Bow Satchel and the many versions of the Coffer, the brand’s bags never bowl me over the way that the rest of its products often do.

The sight of this Miu Miu Resort 2012 ad, via NYMag.com’s Cut Blog, gives me the hope that I need to continue on as a Miu Miu handbag fan, though. Do you see this bag as an improvement?

Baby pink has never been a favorite of mine, but the color fits perfectly with spring’s trends and the shape and size combine for a very well-executed bag. Plus, Miu Miu is very good about making its pieces in a variety of shades, and I’m hoping against hope that this bag will see the light of day in a lovely dove grey. Not only would that fit with spring’s color palette, but it would fit in my closet. Here’s hoping it’ll also fit in my budget; no word on prices yet.

Excuse me for this moment of bluntness: Miu Miu should consider “refreshing” its handbag team.

I’m not saying that the Miu Miu Spring 2012 handbags are bad; they’re not. They’re fine for the very narrow look of this runway show, but they’re not particularly relevant to anything beyond it, and most of them certainly don’t look like what the Miu Miu customer carries in her day-to-day life. I’d carry one because I’m a huge, unapologetic Miu Miu fangirl, but beyond that, I can’t see these bags having a wider appeal.

Every season, I fervently hope that the brand’s runway bags will be fabulous enough to inspire the sort of devotion and panicked credit card-swiping that its shoes do, and my dreams are so rarely answered. Second-guessing Miuccia Prada is a rare thing for me to do, but in this case, a couple new members to her team might serve the overall brand (and handbag lovers everywhere) well. In the past few seasons, purses seem to be something of a lost business opportunity for the brand, and a well-positioned label like Miu Miu should be turning out It Bags hand over fist.

Right in the wallet.

For some reason, Miu Miu’s bags often don’t tempt me quite as much as everything (and I do mean everything) else that the brand makes, particularly its shoes. Still, if Miuccia were to personally deduct money from my bank account every month and send me a random Miu Miu piece of her choosing, I bet I’d be thrilled at least 11 months out of the year.

If it were the Miu Miu Pushlock Lady Bag that showed up on my doorstep, I know I would be. As a satchel or a shoulder bag (maybe even a crossbody – Bergdorfs doesn’t list the strap drop), this just-big-enough retro throwback is everything I want in a fall handbag.

This straight-laced, structured look has been in favor since Celine made us all dizzy with the Classic Box a few seasons ago, and perhaps because of its grown-up, retro-modern appeal, the trend doesn’t apear to be waning anytime soon. At $1350, not only is this bag a bit less pricey than most similar designs from similar brands, but it also seems like a deal relative to Miu Miu’s rising prices. Does anyone still remember when Miu Miu was a Prada diffusion brand? Aren’t diffusion brands typically…less? And really, that’s the only complaint that I have. Buy through Bergdorf Goodman for $1350.

If you didn’t see True Grit when it came out last year, it may be difficult to understand why the world is suddenly so taken with 14-year-old Hailee Steinfeld, but trust me on this one: Go see the movie, because not only is it great, but she will blow you away. And if the Miu Miu Fall 2011 ad campaign is any indication, she’ll be continuing to impress us all for the foreseeable future.

I like these ads for a variety of reasons: Unlike the similarly young models that are often used in fashion, Hailee looks her age in these photos and it seems as though the Miu Miu team took great care to ensure that they didn’t tart her up too much. The clothes, shoes and accessories are fantastic. Bruce Weber shot the images, and you can’t really go wrong with him. The ads don’t feel too precious or serious, which makes them all the more enjoyable. Mostly, they just make me want to don some Miu Miu and go buy the True Grit dvd, which is likely the effect that both Miu Miu and Steinfeld hoped they would have. More images after the jump.

Photos via JustJared.

We all know how I feel about fur bags, but sometimes a fur design is so deranged that it loops back around to awesome, and those bags need to be embraced and celebrated in all of their insane glory. With purple leather trim and fake fur dyed so unevenly that it looks like it was aggressively rubbed against a brand new pair of orange jeans, the Miu Miu Pelouche Faux Fur Shoulder Bag is perhaps the reigning poster child for this phenomenon.

And when I say “embraced and celebrated,” I don’t mean bought. Quite the contrary; it’s best to gaze upon these bags from a safe distance and marvel at the limitless cojones of whoever designed them. If you get too close, you might get some of the crazy on you. Miu Miu’s bags are rarely as notable as its shoes, but this is certainly one way to get us all to sit up and take notice. Although I can’t help but think that this bag is like a college coed with daddy issues – it doesn’t know the difference between negative and positive attention. Next thing you know, it’ll be making out with its roommate at a bar. Buy through Net-a-Porter for $1250.

Over the weekend we started with windy, rainy, chilly weather and ended with sunshine and temperatures reaching the mid 70s. I won’t complain because that warmth is just what I was needing, but I must admit Mother Nature is confusing me. However, with the arrival of spring and summer, raffia reappears.

When I first spotted the Miu Miu Leather Trimmed Raffia Satchel on Net-A-Porter, I immediately thought to myself ‘I would never splurge on a raffia bag’. But then I remembered that I indeed have bought a designer raffia bag from Balenciaga and I adore it.

The wearability factor goes down tremendously when thinking about buying a seasonal piece such as this and truth be told, many are not fans of the scratchy look and feel raffia gives. On this Miu Miu bag, it is not my favorite either, but when it comes to my Balenciaga bag I really love it as a fun summer bag. Buy the Miu Miu bag via NAP for $1,450.

So, would you buy a raffia bag and if so, how much would you spend on one?

I coveted the tiny bag keychains that Balenciaga released in limited numbers last fall to celebrate the ten anniversary of its iconic motorcycle bags, but alas, I wasn’t able to get my hot little hands on one in time. If you were similarly late to the bag-as-bag-accessory party, fret not; the Miu Miu Mini Bag Charms are here to give you a second chance at a very cute accessory.

These little charms look like someone too a sci-fi shrink ray to Miu Miu’s regular handbags, complete with all the flaps and buckles that you’d expect from the full-size versions. The charms are priced from $115 to $380, and they’re available now at Miu Miu boutiques worldwide. When you consider the prices of the real bags, perhaps the brand is on to something here. At the very least, I can’t think of a more fashionable fob to hold your keys. Pictures of more styles, after the jump.

[Photos via Refinery 29]

By now, everyone is well aware that Spring 2011 is all about mixing patterns and colors in order to come up with cheeful, slightly deranged ensembles, and for maximum insanity, you really should include your handbag in the fun. That could be accomplished by simply buying something bright and mixing it with lots of other bright pieces, of course, but picking up something like the Miu Miu Woven Leather Shoulder Bag, which uses lots of colors in and of itself, is a much more adventurous choice. And who doesn’t need a little adventure in their lives on a boring Tuesday?

The higher the color count, the more difficult it is to make sure that all of the hues work together to create a unified whole, but the creative minds at Miu Miu did a good job with this bag. The tan and turquoise give the finished result a slightly Southwestern flare, but not so much that it would be prohibitive for people who don’t own cowboy boots.

The jeweled enamel chain strap brings in a little bit of signature Miu Miu quirk, and although it doesn’t match the turquoise leather perfectly, I think I prefer it that way. Vintage lovers know that colors often change over time in porous materials like skins, so the slight variation looks appropriate with the old-world quality of the tan and brown leathers. This look may be weekends-only for some women, two days of witty, interesting accessories is so much better than none at all. Buy through Net-a-Porter for $1495.

It’s difficult to re-critique the Bow Bag because it’s been around for season after season and has an ardent cult following already, so the color is my chief interest here. And quite a color it is; rich, bright and full of sunny personality without being too annoyingly cheerful or twee to jibe with Miu Miu’s It Girl aesthetic. Glossy vitello leather is not my favorite material in the Prada/Miu Miu stable, but it certainly highlights a bright color quite well. If I had to pick any Bow Bag to be my own, it would definitely be this one. Buy through Bergdorf Goodman for $1470.