Find your handbag tribe

1. The flashbulb queen

Life is a series of parties, gallery openings and red carpets for the flashbulb queen. She looks familiar – but you’re not sure whether you met at that member’s club, follow her on Instagram or saw her in the party pages of Vogue magazine (wait – isn’t she dating whatshisface from that new indie band?). She’s switched on to the power of LBDs – truly a dress for all occasions. As for her arm candy? A rotation of sparkling party-ready bags by Moschino, Miu Miu and Rabanne. What better way to dazzle them than under the paparazzi flash, right?

3. The pop-fashion girl

When not baiting millennials for being too cheugy on TikTok, the pop-fashion girl can be found trawling rails of Marine Serre and Chopova Lowena at Selfridges London on 2. Career goals? Pah, this tribe’s main source of income is from showing other teens how to nail Mob Wife hair at home. Hands-free and Gen-Z, she prefers cross-body micro-minis by the likes of Diesel, Puppets and Puppets and Coperni – because why crumble under the weight of life’s essentials when you can leave everything at home? Or in the pockets of your KHY cargo trousers.

5. The one in the know

This avid fashion follower has her finger on the pulse when it comes to industry news and a talent for spotting the next big thing. She’s already touting Prada’s Re-Edition in forest green by the time most of us come to learn that the slender East-West bag is the silhouette for the season. Step into her wardrobe and you’ll find yourself in an archive of fashion’s greatest handbag hits from the past two decades. All she needs now is Burberry’s Rocking Horse shoulder bag and her collection is complete. Some call it retail therapy, we call it a gift.

7. The magpie

Minimalists they are not. For this colourful cohort, fashion is a playful game of eccentric self-expression rather than staid trends. You’ll see them dressed and decorated in a riot or colour, Simone Rocha frills, bows and marabou trim at London Fashion Week (with a swarm of streetstyle photographers around them, no doubt). When it comes to handbags, all that glimmers catches the eye of the magpie: whether that’s one of Judith Lieber’s crystal-embellished clutches, an ethereal pearl bag by Cult Gaia or a floral sequinned creation by Dries Van Noten.