Dolce & Gabbana’s wacky, elaborate Fall 2013 handbags have to be seen to be believed

Big shocker, you guys, but Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana? They’re from Italy, and they’d like you to know more about it. In fact, Dolce & Gabbana has been telling you about it for seasons, often through extremely literal handbag embellishments and occasional pasta jewelry. For Dolce & Gabbana Fall 2013, we have actual mosaics in purse form.

The influences on this collection are actually both Sicilian and Byzantine, but the goal is clear – to make clothes, shoes and bags that are rich in Italian history and the Italianate aesthetic. If you appreciate literalism and are maybe a European history professor (or Anna Dello Russo), these art-based bags and clutches are probably just what the doctor ordered. If not, Dolce also offers almost starkly stripped-down versions of the bags, which look like a midcentury modern throwback without the tapestry and embellishment. This collection’s bags are a study in two extremes – moderates need not apply.

[Images via Vogue]