Tod’s takes handbag inspiration from its classic driving shoe

There are plenty of brands known for bags that make disappointing shoes (and vice versa, certainly), so it’s no small feat when a company takes its footwear and successfully uses it as an inspiration for handbags. And yet, that’s just what Tod’s has done with the Tod’s Signature Collection. The bags’ embossed pattern is an ode to the texture that forms the bottom of the company’s famous driving shoes, and it gives the brand what it’s been lacking: A logo bag of sorts.

Of course, an embossed pattern isn’t a monogram like those made famous by Louis Vuitton and Gucci, but it does serve as an identifier from one in-the-know person to another that they are, well, in the know. Sort of like Goyard’s painted prints or Balenciaga’s motorcycle hardware, the embossing functions as a brand indicator without some of the stigma that’s attached to a full-on logo. For a company as discerning and subtle as Tod’s, it seems like the correct avenue to take in order to create a visual signature. Would you buy one of these bags? They’ll be available in September as part of the Fall 2011 collection.