Elizabeth and James is Launching Handbags

10:30 AM, February 1 2013

By Alison Syrett Cleary, Digital Writer

If someone decided to give me a $39,000 backpack from The Row, I'd gleefully tote it around, dropping the brand's name whenever I could. Same thing with the line's patchwork fur satchel and its slightly less expensive cross-body that's still more costly than my rent. But I'd never, ever be able to buy one on my own and still enjoy little things like heat, hot water and regular meals.

Fortunately, the Olsen twins just-announced handbag and leather goods collection, for their lower priced contemporary label, Elizabeth and James, is a different story. Reasonably marked between $125 and $625, the range offers all the sleek sophistication of The Row without putting people in the poor house. "We wanted these bags to be affordable," Ashley Olsen told WWD in an interview.

Still, a triple digit price tag is far from cheap, which means each piece will require a little bit of saving up. As everything hits stores this coming July, there's six months to start squirreling money away—my calculations says roughly $25 (or two less weekend cocktails) a week should do it. Now, unlike a roof over my head, that's a sacrifice I can make.