Still clutching

Days, months, seasons - why, years can go by without a thought to the handbag, but the fashion stormtroopers made up for it in…

Days, months, seasons - why, years can go by without a thought to the handbag, but the fashion stormtroopers made up for it in spades in Dublin this week. An exhibition currently running at the Bridge Gallery at 6 Upper Ormond Quay features this very item - again! - in a range of shapes, all designed by top names, including John Rocha and Lainey Keogh.

Derry man Jen Kelly came along to the opening to view his own two creations, on display under glass. Kelly has bought a house on North Great George's Street and restoration work is underway. His great friend, Majella Owens from Derry, is here too. Orla Kiely, another contributor to the design collection, is based in London: she hasn't been able to get here but her mother Maeve Kiely, her sister, Nessa Kiely and her father, Bob Kiely, former proprietor of Kiely's Pub in Donnybrook, are here. Also here is the Paris-born designer, Edmond Chesneau and his partner, artist Janet Brabazon. They've come up from Bennettsbridge, Co Kilkenny. The bag by Lulu Guinness is a black satin creation studded in diamante, and try as we may we cannot spot her anywhere.

The best bag, according to Wanjiku Migunda from Nairobi, Kenya (who won the Smirnoff Fashion Award to study at the NCAD in 1994 and graduated last year) is the one by Helen Cody. Made from, wire it's in the shape of a fish with Perspex fins and a silver clasp.

The Absolut Handbag collection is on view until Friday, July 21st, after which it goes to Paris to join an international collection of bags which travels around Europe.