A designer has reinterpreted the concept of wine-in-a-bag for the sophisticated, female oenophile in the form of luxurious French goatskin and Swiss workmanship.

Claudia Eicke’s Weekender bag is for the wine-loving female who routinely carries a bottle of vino in addition to her lip gloss, smartphone and day planner.

Made from natural grain goatskin from France, bottles can be tucked securely in the “tunnel” portion at the bottom of the bag which were specificaly designed to be stiff to prevent the wine from budging out of place.

A handbag that once belonged to former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher was sold for £25,000 at auction at Christie’s in London Monday.

Thatcher frequently used the black Asprey bag on important occasions, such as summits with then US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev during her 1979-1990 premiership.

The former leader dubbed the “Iron Lady” donated the bag to her Conservative Party’s ex-lawmaker and author Jeffrey Archer for a charity auction.

Angelina Jolie poses for Louis Vuitton Core Values Campaign on a wooden boat in Cambodia’s Siem Reap province where Jolie shot Lara Croft: Tomb Raider in 2000.

Louis Vuitton’s president says, “People are not used to seeing Angelina in this situation. I like the fact that it’s a real moment.”

Four of Angelina’s children were also present at the photo shoot, shot by photographer Annie Leibovitz , with lily pads and verdant foliage everywhere.

Bottega Veneta have launched a special keyring for Japan and in particular to help the people struck by the earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.

Designed by Creative Director Tomas Maier, the keyring is made from a hand-woven intrecciato nappa leather and will be available in a run of only 1,000 pieces.

It will be on sale in Bottega Veneta boutiques and on bottegaveneta.com, at a retail price of $210 USD. All proceeds will be donated to the Japanese Red Cross.

It takes a lot of time and dedication for a luxury brand to establish an ‘it’ bag along the lines of a Mulberry Alexa or a Hermès Kelly bag, but when Chanel launches a whole new handbag range, you can be almost certain, they will be instant classics.

The new collection will draw inspiration from an androgynous style based on a hunter’s cartridge that founder Coco Chanel used to wear herself.

“Chanel used men’s underwear to make dresses,” the house’s creative director Karl Lagerfeld explained. “She had this boyish attitude, in fact it is the very spirit of Chanel. She got it from Boy Capel, the great love of her life…”

In a luxury industry dominated by European brands, a Singapore company is making inroads with an exclusive line of colourful handbags made from crocodile skin.

Selling for as much as $20,000 apiece, Kwanpen bags are made in a spacious, brightly lit workroom where about 50 staff work meticulously to meet the exacting demands of fashionable women the world over.

Kwanpen is a family-owned enterprise operating in one of Singapore’s industrial suburbs, the only luxury leather goods brand from a city-state better known for electronics, petrochemicals and finance.