Spring ads are always my personal favorite, and the newly released Mulberry Spring 2012 campaign is a perfect illustration of why. If you don’t look at these photos and feel a fierce need for a floppy straw hat and a lobster roll (in addition to a new bag, of course), then you and I can’t be friends. What we have here is a bright, shining beacon of spring fashion hopefulness.

The ads, lensed by Tim Walker and featuring Frida Gustavsson and Lindsey Wixson on England’s Brighton Beach, are full of optimism and wonderment in the form of whimsically oversized ice cream cones and playful beachside shenanigans. Naturally, bags take a central role in all of the fun, with the seafoam and black snakeskin option standing out as the leader of the pack. The rest of the images can be found after the jump.

Ever since the launch of the Alexa, Mulberry has been on a roll. With the company’s penchant for punched-up basics that don’t break the bank quite as badly as some of the similarly covetable handbags on the market, Mulberry has found themselves uniquely well-positioned with a group of young, stylish, upwardly mobile customers that can’t get enough of their bags.

And what do young, stylish, upwardly mobile customers want lately? Crossbodies. Enter the Mulberry Small Bayswater, a slightly more diminutive version of the Mulberry classic that offers a carrying option that no other Bayswater has included thus far.

When Mulberry says “small,” they don’t really mean all that small. The bag measures up at a similar size to the Proenza Schouler Medium PS1, which makes it great to wear across the body; not too bulky, but still big enough to easily carry whatever you may need for an average day. This smaller version of the Bayswater still looks polished and classic when carries in the crook of the arm, too. You really can have it both ways. Buy through Net-a-Porter for $1100.

To me, the Kelly shape – a simple, arm-carried bag with a front flap closure and a top handle – is a classic shape that doesn’t really belong to Hermes so much as it belongs to handbag design in general. Much like the Louis Vuitton Speedy, the shape has reached such a classic level that attributing it to only one company no longer seems fair. And when the reinterpretations yield bags as different from the original as the Mulberry Postman’s Lock Satchel, I think it’s easy to see why I take that opinion.

Mulberry has experienced a ton of success with bags like this after the past few seasons, starting off with the widely loved Mulberry Alexa. This Postman’s Lock satchel cleans things up a bit from those young-skewing designs by way of the removal of the school bag-inspired fron straps, which gives this bag a nearly minimal look that will work for a huge variety of women. With its generous size and convenient crossbody strap, this would make a perfect office bag for a woman who works in a conservative office or who doesn’t want to look too flashy in front of her coworkers. Needless to say, this bag would make a wonderful gift as well. Buy through Net-a-Porter for $1000.

Luxury travel accessories usually fall into two categories: Pretty things that no one actually uses or needs and things that are pretty while also being surprisingly useful. The Mulberry Travel Adapter, complete with its bright pink leather carrying case, is one of the few that fits firmly in the latter designation.

For anyone left who doesn’t know this, American plugs don’t work in foreign outlets and vice versa, and some foreign plugs don’t work in other foreign outlets. To make your flat iron work everywhere on the globe, it’s necessary to take a converter with you when travelling overseas, because god knows you don’t want a frizzy mane while on vacay. Now that Mulberry has stepped up to the plate, you can ensure electrical compatibility in chic pink leather.

Ok, sure, usually you can pick up one of these converters at Best Buy for $15-$30, depending how much fanciness you want. But for those people who treat $300 like most of us treat $30 (they’re out there, trust), this is an unexpected, chic gift with a case that can also be used to corral phone chargers and other various and sundry cords when travelling domestically. Or, alternately, if you know someone who’s just gotten a new job or promotion that will be taking them overseas a lot in the new years, this would be a wonderful token of your congratulations. Priced at $230 via Net-a-Porter.

The soft tan leather makes for an easy-to-wear shoulder bag, and the long shoulder strap is precisely what I adore in a saddlebag like this. Just in time for winter tweeds and browns, the color of this bag will also easily transition into spring wardrobes because of its light hue. While the inside is not entirely lined with suede, there are suede accents along with a stamped canvas lining. Finishing off the bag is a magnetic fastening tab for the fold-over flap. It has been a while since a Mulberry bag stood out on my radar, and the Evelina is quite cute. Buy via Net-A-Porter for $935.

Although Mulberry has brokered its handbag popularity into extraordinary success above and beyond the world of leather goods, the British brand always remembers on which side its bread is buttered: accessories. Mulberry never fails to include lots of handbag goodies in its runway shows for those of us who are more interested in what the models are carrying than what they’re wearing, and Mulberry Spring 2012 included bags of nearly every type imaginably.

There were quirky-girly evening bags with sparkly peace sings (the brand has been very successful with the hippie chic look, so I don’t blame them for running with it), the larger leather classics that we know and love in yellow patent that managed to be simultaneously soft and bright, and a couple of new takes on Mulberry’s most successful shape, the crossbody satchel. My favorite looks were the ones that mixed textures and exotics, but if you prefer your bags neutral, the collection included a surprising amount of tan and beige leather. A full gallery, after the jump.

Although Mulberry already has a very nice boutiques in the West Village and on the cusp of the Upper East Side, it’s no surprise that the brand that named its most famous bag after Alexa Chung would want to have a serious downtown presence as well. This week, Mulberry will be opening its first stateside flagship in Soho, and to commemorate the occasion, the brand has released the Mulberry New York Clipper Satchel in the shared colors of America and Britain – red, white and blue.

To further prove Mulberry’s commitment to America, the company teamed up with StyleList to shoot some photos of the patriotic trio around town. You guys know that we love a good bags-as-art photo as much as anyone else, so we’ve got our favorites after the jump. You can see the rest of them at StyleList and buy the bag, which comes with a special “Peace, Love and New York” luggage tag, at the new Spring Street spot once it opens. I haven’t been able to find a price for the New York Clipper, but I’d bet it’s around a grand.

I know what you guys are thinking. It wasn’t all that long ago that we featured another Mulberry holdall for Man Bag Monday and we try to keep things diverse around here, but when a single brand is performing so well, it’s hard to spread the praise around. So for this week, we bring you the Mulberry Albert Leather Holdall, which is as sophisticated as it is luxurious.

While Mulberry’s women’s offerings tend to focus on providing a young, fun twist on British heritage, the men’s accessories are a little more straightforward and traditional. Which makes sense, when you consider how the men’s market differs from the ever-churning procession of trends and ideas that you see in high-end women’s accessories. This is the type of bag that a 65-year-old man could carry just as proudly as a 25-year-old, which is the strength of Mulberry’s men’s line above and beyond most others in the same price range. Buy through Mr. Porter for $1450.

Mulberry just kind of has a knack, you know? Somehow, the brand’s creative minds know how to take traditional, classic bags and tweak them just enough to make them covetable, young and modern. I honestly have no idea how they do it, but after a few seasons of contemplation, I’ve come to the conclusion that the brand’s sense of visual editing is among the best in the business.

The Mulberry Carter Camera Bag bears that out, and I’ve seen a few fashion outlets already decide that the design is the brand’s new Alexa. I’m not ready to make that designation until we see how consumers start to react at the cash register, but I will say this: When I first saw this bag being worn (in dove grey with dark silver hardware) by Kate Bosworth, I was pretty sure it was Chanel. That’s not faint praise.

The Carter (Tha? Am I the only one who thinks of Lil Wayne when someone says “The Carter?”) bags are going to come in a number of styles – a double-strapped shoulder bag, this medium crossbody/shoulder bag hybrid and a mini crossbody. For some reason, I also had in my mind that there would be a traditional tote, but I can’t find evidence of that being the truth. All the styles feature a nearly identical front flap pocket with double “postman’s locks” on a wide metal placket and a top zipper for the main compartment.

In my view, they’re all winners. The bags come in a neutral and fall-appropriate slate of colors ranging from rusty red suede to slightly shimmering gold leather, so I’ll likely wait on a spring refresh with bolder colors to buy, but there’s no doubt in my mind that I want one. The design is classic and luxurious-looking without being outlandishly expensive, and the people who are calling the Carter an It Bag might be on to something. Buy through Matches for $1220.

Every time I see the Mulberry Clipper Leather Holdall, I sigh a little bit. It’s both a happy and a sad sigh – happy because the bag is both functional and simply gorgeous, sad because I don’t have one in my closet right now. And if I did, I think I’d probably take it out to pet it every now and then, even if I weren’t planning on a weekend away.

But with a travel bag like this, I think I’d be motivated to take more trips, which is why I’ve chosen it for the week’s Man Bag Monday. That’s right, Mulberry technically categorizes this weekender as a bag for its male customers, but I think it’s clearly unisex. And because I’m the one with the blog-posting capabilities, what I say, goes around here.

As I’ve mentioned on previous Man Bag Mondays, those dual gender capabilities are always one of my favorite things about man bags. Not only do they provide men with a way to add a bit of luxury to their everyday activities without sacrificing masculinity (who doesn’t need a nice briefcase or gym bag?), but they also expand the accessory universe for women in ways that tend to be very functional and neutral. I mean, just look at this bag. I don’t need to explain its British heritage appeal or how fantastic a leather bag this really is. The pictures say everything. Actually, what this picture doesn’t say is worth mentioning – the bag also comes with a shoulder strap.

Another thing that I’ve noticed about men’s bags is that they tend to be a bit less expensive than a similar bag would be if marketed to women. Men are likely not as immune to sticker shock as most female accessories buyers are, and the price points on their bags reflect the probable reluctance of a dude to spend so much money on something that most men don’t see as a daily necessity. At around $1500, this bag surely isn’t cheap, but it’s kind of a deal compared to the relative size and price point of Mulberry’s women’s leather bags. Buy through Mr. Porter for $1495.