We love a good ad campaign around these parts. Because most brands rely on accessories (as well as cosmetics and fragrance) to make ends meet, ads often put the bags and leather goods that we’re most interested in seeing front and center in a way that the runway never does. Prada’s ads are always reliably lovely, and the campaign for Prada Spring 2012 features my favorite of the collection’s runway bags – the framed satchel!

You have two eyes, so I’m sure you can tell that these photos were shot at a service station as an homage to the 1950s greasers and car culture that inspired the clothes. Fashionista.com tells us that Steven Meisel shot five models for the campaign, most notably Natasha Poly, and the results are good, clean Americana fun. Check out two more shots after the jump.

With Prada, resort collections are always a good indication of what’s coming when spring debuts, and the cutesy appliques on some of Prada’s Resort 2012 bags certainly belie the flames and cars we saw on the Prada spring runway. Among those very style-specific bags, though, are a few that will likely have a much broader audience.

My favorite of the group is the Prada Raso Jeweled Clutch above, which follows in the footsteps of previous Prada evening bags and covers its entire front flap in shiny, sparkly goodness. We have a sampling of the collection’s other distinctive bags after the jump, plus their price and purchase information. Not all of them have twee appliques, we promise. (Although we kind of like the lip bag? Maybe? A little bit?)

Prada Madras Shoulder Bag, $1670 via Neiman Marcus

Prada Floral Detail Crossbody, $1190 via Neiman Marcus

Prada Lip Shoulder Bag, $1679 via Neiman Marcus

Prada Capretto Gaufre Shoulder Bag, $1975 via Neiman Marcus

Handbag lovers often get the shaft on the runway, but when it comes time to move some product and keep the company in the black (namely, ad season), brands are all about giving us lots of pretty pictures of exactly what we want to see. If you needed any convincing of that fact, just take a look at Prada‘s new Resort 2012 ads from the lovely ladies of Fashionista.com.

The shots, featuring model Lea Seydoux, at times literally feature more clutches than one person can hold. There’s great variety among the bags too – bright exotics, ruched leather flap bags, bejeweled box clutches. If you don’t look closely, you might miss a great piece, but don’t stop at the bags. Prada’s brand new jewelry line, launching next month, is also represented heavily. And are those a couple of Prada Bear Bag Tricks that I see? More photos and a behind-the-scenes video, after the jump.

You guys, it’s Friday. May I repeat for everyone who’s glazed over in front of the computer at work: IT’S FRIDAY. So it’s time to have some fun, ok? Today, I’d like to do that with these images from our friends at Fashionista.com of the latest and greatest Prada Tricks, which is what the company calls its absolutely adorable bag charms, which are often ursine (Fancy word for bear-like, y’all. Haven’t used that one since the SATs.) in nature.

Fashionista scanned these images out of the new Prada Gifts lookbook, which is why they’re a tad wonky, but these little guys and gals are totally awesome nonetheless. From a thinly veiled take on Axl Rose to bears dressed as crystal-studded robots, these are the kind of whimsical, silly little things that I actually would hang from my bag with a great deal of joy. Fashionista estimates that they’ll cost around $150, and we’ll update you when they become available. Check out the rest of the Tricks in the gallery after the jump.

I have a few favorite days of the year: Christmas, Halloween, the first day of college football and New Prada Day. Luckily, New Prada Day comes twice a year (or four times, if you count Resort and Pre-Fall, which I do if I’m feeling desperate), and one of those days was yesterday! Naturally, Miuccia didn’t disappoint – Prada Spring 2012 was playful, feminine and incredibly smart.

Prada’s bags tend to ground her more fanciful and esoteric collections, and although this was an relatively accessible line that didn’t need as much grounding as past seasons, the bags were still classic Miuccia. Glossy, structured satchels on a ladylike scale were given counterpart in crocodile clutches with elaborate midcentury hardware reminiscent of chrome automotive fixture from the era. If you’d rather go the extremely literal route, there are also a couple of clutches with leather cars stitched onto them. Check out the full gallery after the jump.

Good news: Megs and I have returned to Manhattan! Bad news: We’re still getting back up to speed, so things will be a bit slow today and then totally back to normal tomorrow, and we hope that readers who were affected by the hurricane are also well on their way back to normalcy. For now, though, I’d like to spend a moment touching on my aversion to black bags.

Black, as a color, is one of my favorites. It always has been, even during childhood when most little girls fawned over pink; when everyone else in my first grade class had a pair of white Keds, I had black ones. But now, because I wear so much black clothing, wearing black accessories and shoes just feels really…dull. Even a black bag as beautiful and functional as the Prada Calfskin Tote can’t make it into my wardrobe without a good game plan for spicing it up. I think that the Agent Provocateur Leopard Print Calf Hair Driving Gloves would do just the trick for fall.

For some reason, I took one look at these drool-worthy driving gloves and couldn’t think anything but, “These need a black handbag, stat!” The key word being “hand,” of course. The visual of red leather and leopard against a black background only works if the back is close by, so hobos and totes are out. But with a bag that’s carried in the crook of the arm or the hand, the whole look harkens back to an era when women wore gloves as glamorous accessories, not just protection against the cold. It’s very Mad Men, very Hitchcock, and I’m all about it. Buy the gloves through Net-a-Porter for $500 and the bag through Neiman Marcus for $2500.

This would probably be the place to say something profound about the inescapable march of time, but I’d much rather talk about the Prada Glace Calf Degradé Top Handle, a design for which my feelings are profound in an entirely different way. Carry this bag now, carry it in six months, it’ll look good 365 days per year.

Over the past year or two, I’ve developed a deep appreciation for what Prada does with its accessories. The brand makes the best nondescript everyday bags in the industry, bar none, which isn’t the kind of compliment I’m wont to throw around without merit. Prada’s accessories always provide a signature minimal counterpoint to Miuccia’s often dazzling runway clothes; think of them as an anchor.

In that sense, this bag is par for the Prada course. But with the lovely grey color variation, functional shape and gorgeous leather, I’m not sure how this bag could be par for anything. It’s the kind of purchase you won’t regret because you’ll be too busy not only using the bag, but also accepting compliments from envious friends and strangers alike. Buy through Saks for $2050.

At first, I was going to say that Prada’s Fall 2011 campaign video was full of sexy models and handbags, but then I remembered that some of the models featured are under 18, and I thought that maybe that wouldn’t be the best choice of words. But the video is sexy, in a Lolita-esque, almost completely covered up sort of way. Prada’s Fall 2011 clothes are so thick and textured and non-sexual that the video runs directly counter to how you would expect the collection to be portrayed. But that’s the genius of Miuccia.

In this video, you get to see that genius up close. The clothes and accessories are full of texture, and when seen from close range, the incredible amount of work and detail that has gone into the line is more obvious than ever. Python, paillettes, buttons, suede, knit – inch for inch, it’s tough to beat Prada.

We’ve already explored the slightly more, uh, tactile elements of Prada Fall 2011, but what about the everyday bags that the brand does so well, year in and year out? Too many pre-orders have sprung up across the Internet for us to feature them all, but here’s a selection of four bags of different styles and leathers that we heartily recommend for purchase in the upcoming months.

Prada Madras Satchel, $2895 via Neiman Marcus

Fall 2011 is all about maximalist texture, and nothing made that case more convincingly than the layers upon layers at the Prada show. The Madaras line didn’t make it to the runway, but the tightly woven bicolor leather is a continuation of that idea that can be carried every day, unlike most runway bags.

Prada Glace Coated Calf East-West Satchel, $1450 via Neiman Marcus

I get a little bit tingly every time Prada uses a degradé leather; Miuccia does them like no one else. Casting an ivory-to-grey transition on a traditional shape makes this design part statement bag, part functional accessory.

Prada Saffiano Righe Satchel, $1495 via Neiman Marcus

I admire the contrast-color stripes on the luggage in the Prada Fifth Avenue window every time I walk by it, and while I’m a bigger fan of the orange and green that you can see there, this subtle crossbody version is a very serviceable neutral translation of the style.

Prada City Calf Framed Tote, $1695 via Neiman Marcus

This is a design that doesn’t require explanation. Prada’s known for its minimalist perfection translated to everyday accessories, and this bag is immaculate in its modernity. It scarcely gets much better than this when it comes to a a simple day bag.

I’ve spent a lot of time and energy in this space complaining about how designers keep trying to make fur bags happen, and usually during those rants I also wonder about why more companies aren’t using faux fur for their ill-advised fuzzy bags. Few designers hesitate to use stamped croc or python, so why not a little fake mink or chinchilla? The primary argument that I see people making for real fur in outerwear is the warmth that it provides, and my phone and keys certainly don’t require my handbag to maintain any particular temperature.

It looks as though Prada has answered my prayers, as it so often does. The brand has debuted a line of faux fur bags for Fall 2011, and not only are the prices half that of most real fur bags, but no cute little critters had to give up their coats to make these designs happen. That’s right, I still don’t really love these bags, but I dislike them less than if they were real fur and twice the price. If that makes the sense.

Actually, I should amend that. I’m not mad at the Prada Mohair Garden Tote, right, because it uses faux mohair that’s short enough that the structure of the underlying bag isn’t totally lost. And that’s my biggest gripe with fur bags – the material almost always overwhelms the shape. The combination of a short fur and simple shape prevents that from happening with this bag, so it gets my tentative seal of approval. You know, if you’re looking for a fur bag.

The Prada Eco Pelliccia Faux Fur Wristlet isn’t bad either, if only because a bag like that doesn’t necessarily lose anything if it looks like a puff ball. It’s small and without structure, which makes up for a multitude of fur’s normal sins. The only stinker\ of the three is the Prada Mongolia Garden Tote, which uses faux fur that’s too stringy and long to really be attractive on a handbag. But still, with all three designs showing three-figure price tags, I can’t complain too much. If you’ve been wanting a fur bag, here’s the best way to do it.

Prada Mohair Faux Fur Garden Tote, $995 via Saks.

Prada Eco Pelliccia Faux Fur Wristlet, $370 via Saks.

Prada Eco Mongolia Faux Fur Garden Tote, $995 via Saks.