Hung on U Celebrity-Designed Bag Launch

A few months ago, model Patti Hansen (aka Mrs. Keith Richards) launched a handbag line, Hung on U, with her friend/producer/manager, Molly Madden. The collection is made up of one silhouette that’s offered in a variety of iterations (nylon, denim, glitter, suede, pony, etc.) and is stocked at Barneys. The cross-body shape of the bags is, interestingly enough, inspired by one that both women wore during their Studio 54 days and the resulting creations were designed along with designer Debi Koppel, the woman behind DKP Designs. The bags have an Alexander Wang-meets-80s quality to them and they come in small, medium, and large sizes. Part of the profits go to charity, but as a special charitable effort, Hansen asked 20 of her celebrity friends to customize one of the bags. Each is up for auction now, through October 12, on Charity Buzz with all proceeds benefiting Epidermolysis Bullosa Medical Research Fund.

Diane Von Furstenberg; Christian Louboutin

I attended the launch party yesterday at the Barneys New York flagship Madison Avenue store and was in awe of what some of the guest designers came up with – especially considering they were asked to revamp the classic Hung on U shape on their own (as in, they had to actually give the bag the makeover themselves, not just design it on a piece of paper). The most intricate one had to be Joe Zee’s who added a zipper and completely changed the silhouette of the cross-body bag into a backpack. As for the stand out favorite, it went to Simon Doonan who covered his with synthetic hair. I told him that his was my favorite and he said, “Good, because I’m very competitive,” and then added that he’s been working with hair for ages and still recalls lining lamp shades with hair for Barneys window displays. As for me, it reminded me of how much I liked the fur-lined clutches Fendi showed in their Spring 2012 collection (and these!).

Simon Doonan; Zach Galifianakis

The other designers that personalized and redesigned their own Hung On U bag into one-of-a-kind bags were Patricia Arquette, Chris Cornell, Zach Galifianakis, Patti Hansen, Rashida Jones, Donna Karan, Anthony Kiedis, Christian Louboutin, Debra Messing, Alexandra Richards, Ella Richards, Keith Richards, Theodora Richards, Gavin Rossdale, Pamela Skaist-Levy, Gela Taylor, Diane Von Furstenberg, and Ronnie Wood.

Joe Zee's design on display at the Hung on U celebrity-designed bag launch.