How to handle those handles - inspiration for a bag handle

There are so many parts of a bag to think about in your design. As you can read in the ’10-steps of designing’ it takes a whole process of designing, redesigning until you have the final version. But today I want to discuss with you, bag handles. A handle can just complement your bag design or be a real eye-catcher itself.

Placement of the handle

When we design a bag, a handle can be placed on a different part of the bag. Since we have so many options we have to make some decisions. Therefore, I have prepared some questions to answer:

Do you want top handles, cut out handles or handles on the sides of the bag?
Or do you want no handles at all (maybe this not the post for you ;)…)

Top handle

Cut-out handle

Handles on the sides of the bag

Kind of handle

Besides the placement, there are a lot of other choices to make about what kind o you would like to add to your bag. This gives rise to even more questions:

Do you want a single or a double handle?

Will you make it of leather, bamboo, acrylic or metal (Chanel chain for example)?

Leather

Bamboo

Acrylic

Metal

And what kind of shape do you want?

A Structured, Rolled, Strap, Loop or Ring

Structured

Rolled

Strap

A loop

Ring

Design of the handle

Once you have chosen a placement and a kind of handle there are more choises… much more choises… You can make any combination of course of the options above but how do you adjust it to the bag? Therefore (you already guessed it…) even more questions!:

Do you want a double braided leather structured handle …?
Or a single top rolled one or of course a woven chain?
Will you attach it just like this on the bag, but with a square, round or leaf end?
Or with D-rings, single or double buckle?

Besides all of these kinds, it is also possible to really let your creativity out on these. So just as inspiration, I have collected a few examples on my newest Pinterest board:

I love to hear what you think about all these options and how you would make any choices! Have you seen already the newest trend for the Autumn and Winter 2017 on the runway? And what kind of handles did they use?