Bet you didn’t know that artist, scientist, inventor Leonardo Da Vinci moonlighted as a fashion accessory designer. One of his drawings discovered in 1978 by Da Vinci scholar Carlo Pedretti has become the source material for the newest handbag from luxury Florentine fashion house Gherardini (Mona Lisa is believed to be an ancestor of the family.) Scholars have reconstructed fragmented drawings of a bag sketched by Da Vinci in 1497 around the time he was painting the tapestries in the Last Supper.
To describe the bag as “vintage” just doesn’t cut it in this case. Unveiled at the Pitti W fashion show in Florence earlier this month, the bag (re)designed by Carla Braccailini is called Pretiosa, Italian for “precious.” And it’s no wonder—each of the limited edition copies are comprised of hand-embossed multi-tone calfskin, a hand-etched brass handlebar, and hand-sewn embroidery. All 99 will be available for purchase at Gherardini boutiques starting March 1st. It's safe to assume that acquiring this handbag will be tougher than Tickle Me Elmo in Christmas '96.
For more, see a video peak into the creation of Petriosa, provided by Gherardini.
Posted by jillybean on January 27, 2012 at 11:25 AM EST #
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