Happy Chinese New Year and welcome to the Year of the Dragon, everyone! Since our cultural knowledge of the traditions of Chinese New Year is admittedly somewhat limited, we thought that the best way we could join in on the festivities would be by highlighting the work of one very talented Chinese American designer – Alexander Wang. After all, what better way to celebrate a culture than by appreciating the contributions of its people?

Wang’s bags are likely familiar to most of you already, but he’s done something a little different for Resort and Spring 2012 – he used color. The man known for black and grey did an admirable job of brightening things up and even incorporating a print or two for the new season, and today seemed like a perfect day to feature several of our favorites. Take a look after the jump and let us know how you’re celebrating in the comments.

Image via Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton’s Spring 2012 runway show was a joy to behold for a variety of reasons: the enormous carousel set piece bearing dozens of the world’s best models, girlish clothes in the most powdery and feminine of pastels, luxury in every detail. The entire collection felt fresh, light and joyful. Personally, though, I was distracted by one thing and one thing only, which was trying to guess how much the littany of crocodile pieces, from bags to jackets, would cost once they hit retail. Not only is crocodile astronomically expensive all on its own, but Vuitton tends to charge a premium for all of its products, above and beyond most another brands.

For the handbag star of the collection, the Louis Vuitton Crocodile Old Speedy Flap, we now have an answer, but go ahead and try to guess before you peek.

I’m continually surprised by the huge number of Michael Kors bags that I see women carrying in every city that I visit. One of the most recognizable bags from the line is the Michael Kors Hamilton, which has been issued in nearly countless colors, sized and materials. The version above may be the most exciting, though; like other designers, MK is always giving back and after the tragic earthquake in Japan, Michael decided to help.

MK debuted a limited edition Hamilton handbag in support of the Great East Japan Earthquake relief effort during Fashion’s Night out in Tokyo and to follow its success, the U.S. will launch this bag for a 24 hour period starting tomorrow, Monday January 22nd. The bag will be available only through a link from the Michael Kors facebook page and in select Michael Kors retail stores.

First Hermes (and then no more Hermes because they got sued), then Chanel and now Balenciaga – tote company Thursday Friday seems like it won’t be satisfied until every iconic handbag under the sun (except any made by Hermes because, well, you know…) has been immortalized on its Thursday Friday Together Tote Bag. This one, naturally, is called the “Moto.” Clever.

Spring 2012 is all about mixing color and textures, and as you can see, some designers took that idea to heart more than others. I normally love the Dolce & Gabbana Miss Sicily Bag in all of its sometimes strange iterations, but this 70s crocheted afghan version has me wondering whether it would have been best as a runway idea rather than a retail reality. More than anything, though, this bag seems like a perfect opportunity to play Fill in the Blank. You ladies already know how this works – finish our title sentence in the comments or, if you’re so inclined, buy through Neiman Marcus for $2895.

Alexander McQueen Woven Cord Box Clutch, $2075 via Neiman Marcus

There are a lot of reasons that I’m a person who writes about handbags instead of a person who designs them, but one of the big ones is that when I think about a bag like the Alexander McQueen Skull Clutch, I have no idea how I’d move forward with it. Skull clutches have been done in basically every color, finish, embellishment and theme of which I can conceive, and it seems like we should have hit some sort of back corner of creativity by now.

And yet, we haven’t. The team at McQueen continues to churn out both amazing clothes and beautiful accessories at a rate that would surely satisfy the man himself, were he around to supervise. Spring 2012 brings with it an impressive array of box clutches from the brand, and we have a few of our favorites for your perusal after the jump.