The Carinabag

The CarinaBag is the latest Braccialini handbag. Funny, clean, different. The model inspired in the famous «Braccialini «car bag», is coming to life this S/S 2015 in order to stay. The Italian company presented the Carinabag last month at the Grammys. Braccialini is a 60-year old leather accessories company based in Florence, Italy. It was started in 1954 by Carla Braccialini and her husband Roberto after Carla had her handbag stolen and she realized how much of her life she carried in her handbag.

That thought inspired her to create artistic designs that reflected life’s fun and creative moments. Carla trained her small team to sew with creativity and imagination; and her designs embody fun unique playful designs that are handcrafted with new materials. Today, Braccialini is run by Carla’s three sons while she remains an active member of the Creative team. Today the brand operates in 60 countries with over 50 stores worldwide and has an agreement with LRPNY (Luxury Retail Partners New York) in order to expand their global footprint.

This is a project that lasted almost a year, with the aim of creating a plastic version of the famous Braccialini leather ‘car’. They implemented the same techniques used for ‘real’ cars to achieve this result, such as three-dimensional modelling, assembly simulation and colour assessments. They did all this through sophisticated software, used for the first time on such a large scale in the leather goods industry including involved technicians that work in the metallurgical and plastics processing industries.

After experimenting with different materials, Braccialini chose a type of PVC (polyvinyl chloride), which allows to use bright colours and makes the product soft and recyclable. Just like ‘real’ cars, the side and front panels, the wheels and the under body come off the assembly line and are ready to become the finished product: the CARinAbag, a car to love.