Louis Vuitton updates the Speedy Bag in fur and python for Fall 2013

There are few sure things in life (other than death and taxes, as the old trope goes), but a bevy of beautiful handbags at a Louis Vuitton show is absolutely on that short list. The company makes no bones about the importance of leather goods to its business, and creative director Marc Jacobs always makes sure to put the best of the best on display for editors, buyers and LV fans alike. For Louis Vuitton Fall 2013, that means a couple of Vuitton’s most classic shapes (think Speedy and Pochette Accessoires), done up in materials like fur, python, crocodile and feathers.

Like Jacobs’ own show, the color palette was rich but muted, and a couple of the materials (particularly the snakeskins) seemed like perhaps they appeared on handbags in both lines. When it came to the bags, though, Vuitton kept things classic; the biggest leaps of the collection were fur-covered Speedy bags that looked like muffs, and although fur bags are difficult to pull off, the inherently amorphous shape of the Speedy freed up Jacobs to experiment with longer fur than a more structured bag would require. If you’re looking for something more traditional, a python Speedy or soft crocodile fold-over quasi-Lockit are better bets. For me, though, the most interesting bags of the collection were the feather-covered Pochettes Accessoires, which looked almost like they had been adorned with short locks of colorful hair.

[Images via Style.com and TheCut]