Wearing a dull outfit? No sweat! Just add an interesting bread-roll clutch bag! Not brave (or hungry) enough to experiment with your clothes? Simple, carry a quirky handbag.

Accessories are by far the favourite part of my wardrobe. I could easily wear the same shirt and trousers everyday as long as I could change my accessories, particularly my jewellery or handbag. Accessories, I believe, are one of the simplest forms of self-expression.

Among the whole gamut of accessories thrown upon us every season (sometimes cuffs are cool, suddenly earrings become passe and other times necks become the new wrists!), handbags are where style and utility are ideally paired. I started designing handbags because I couldn’t find one with the perfect balance of style and functionality for me.

Cut to some time back; my first handbag — a little beauty I could call my own came to me at the age of 10. I remember it like a picture. A vintage piece I inherited from my grandmother — a purple sequinned envelope clutch. In retrospect I know it sounds quite hideous but at the time I loved it and carried it everywhere! (Come on, I was 10). And here’s how I got maximum utility out of it. It was full of precious valuables. I filled it with sweets, erasers, colour pencils and I also remember having to be coaxed out of carrying it to school.

After my purple bag days, I didn’t feel that deep perfect handbag glow till I acquired a Gucci Jacki bag years ago. That story is shorter and doesn’t have a happily-ever-after ending. Sadly it got stolen on my first trip to NYC as I gawked at the buzz in Manhattan. I was shattered.

Might sound shallow, but handbags are important. Try carrying a sad bag with a great outfit and you’ll know what I mean. When I think of some of the handbags we made for our shows, I love the box bag for autumn/winter 07-08 introduced at the Lakme Fashion Week in March. It was quirky and functional and most important, spacious. I hate bags that look great but don’t fit much. You end up carrying a second bag to supplement it.

I’m learning as I grow. A great bag has a soul. They are spacious considering they’re formal, fairly small bags. They are not terribly embroidered — there are tons of those in the market. We’ve worked with interesting shapes like the telescope, the tiny box or the bread-roll. Despite their size, each has a distinctive individuality of its own. And like the woman I design for — they are definitely not for the faint-hearted.