Celestina Bags Unveiled Here First!


Today, thebaghag was privileged enough *woohoo* to attend the private viewing and unveiling of Celestina bags and accessories at TinaO’s beautiful home. I still remember ogling at the display case of Barneys and proudly informing the sales associate (who helped me with the Lanvin bag) that these bags are made in the Philippines 🙂 I’m so proud of Filipino talent. From Rafe Totengco to Amina Aranaz- Alunan, Bea Valdez, Monique Lhuillier, and of late, Tina Ocampo. All I can say is, wow. Dreams do come true (although I guess it hasn’t come true for me yet– mine’s all nightmares hahaha *bah*)

So without further ado, the Celestina collection…

This beautiful rose colored ostrich structured satchel is my top pick. The size is actually perfect!! Though it had somewhat reminded me of one of Loewe’s older designs, Loewe’s version is nowhere near this beautiful baby. This bag has remarkable detail– that “tongue” part is made with mother of pearl, and the bottom of the bag, like this crocodile one, has a mother of pearl “board”. Fantastic detail that always gets overlooked by many a bag designer, but not by Tina. She addressed this detail and I am one who never fails to appreciate detail 🙂 It’s a gorgeous bag!! Priced at US$3,000++, the ostrich bag is actually quite a “steal” already (think Hermes ostrich bag and how much that would’ve cost!).

Celestina also came out with crocodile top handle bags.
Very luxe, very rich. According to Tina, she will be making them in bright colors for summer. We can’t wait to see that! This style has mother of pearl handles as well as MOP bottoms. There is also a white version of this one, I was told. Priced at US$4,000++.

The same top handle tote comes in ostrich too– in bright colors like red.
Look at the shagreen clutches on the left side of the photo, as well as the yellow one on the right side. Those clutches are to die for. Shagreen clutches are what Celestina became instantly known for. She keeps churning out these beautiful colors.*drools*

Another beautiful clutch in chartreuse crocodile with mother of pearl detail.This is a gorgeous clutch. I’ve always liked Alexandra Knight croc clutches (I’ve yet to own one haha. thanks to my friend LPT who introduced them to me!), so it’s no surprise that I fell in love with this clutch. Chartreuse is a color I love, and although I find the color hard to work with, this bag is total eye candy, worth carrying. Priced at US$2000++.

Then there are the famous mother of pearl clutches or rather minaudieres. Remember Drew Barrymore in her beautiful petal gown during the Awards night? She carried a Celestina MOP minaudiere. Here are new styles. TinaO also used colored stones for that extra detail. Prices from US$1,000 up.

Here’s another favorite of mine– the wooden minaudieres. I personally like the wooden piece with the twin lapiz enclosure detail. The signature barrel- like shape clutch in dark rosewood and MOP is beautiful. It is a bit hard to carry since the clutch is rather bulky, but I’m willing to overlook the bulky factor because it’s such a unique shape– hands down, it’s really a conversation piece.

I chose the white version of the wooden minaudiere with the lapiz enclosure. I love it since it’s practically a winter-white piece while also passing as a great summer evening purse. That yellowish clutch is interesting too. The shape is again quite unique.

It would be sinful not to get a shagreen piece if you were to get your first Celestina bag. I originally chose this long turquoise shagreen clutch with the ivory (or is it bone) leaf detail. I still like this piece a lot for its color and the “leaf” design, which is a nice break from the all- shagreen material.

Tina worked with a lot of textures for this collection, and here are some new ones she added for this season.
The famous “banig” weave made into a minaudiere!

Oh did I mention that Celestina features jewelry as well? Check out those “cage” earrings (I will post more photos of accessories tomorrow)

I really enjoyed looking at the different colors of bags on the shelf. Fuchsia crocodile clutch, pink and purple shagreen clutches and minaudieres…

Yellow shagreen clutches and yellow ostrich tote
And there’s the rest of the croc collection.
I thoroughly enjoyed the collection. I originally thought one bag would be the most I’d like since I’m not really a clutch kinda gal (I have too much stuff!!), but I ended up loving two (take note, not just “liking”, I love it!).

What a fun afternoon it had been for me! I got to see more beautiful bags, which I will surely be seeing on Barneys NY shelves soon! I’ll post photos of the accessories tomorrow, which include sunglasses, necklaces, and rings!

xx
Mrs.T

No Comments Yet
  1. wow! i love those MOP clutches! and the bottom of the bags?! what an interesting detail. aside from the bags itself i noticed that huge MOP (is it?!) barrel like stand in which the ostrich bag is placed. i really like it! wish i could have that in our house! sana she could sell those bags a little cheaper to her kababayans.. =)

    gpr

  2. The bags are so pretty-licious! Are they being sold locally? They make me want to buy! But I am on a student budget ha ha! Wishing and hoping my mommy reads the comments on your blog =) Christmas is near ha ha!

  3. They are so nice! I want the classic mother-of-pearl minaudiere. Were her bags priced like this from the start? Or did it spike upon arriving at Barneys?

  4. I want one! I might get the clutch from Vivre.

    [Mrs T, do you have any contact info like email? I have a question about a certain Prada pouchette, thanks!]

  5. The bottom and handles are not mother of pearl- they are flattened abalone shells which is soooo much cheaper!

  6. anonymous: you are right. the bottom of the croc bag is made of flattened abalone nacre, but the lilac/ pink ostrich bag bottom is made of mother of pearl, which i did not photograph and post onsite. So my description of the lilac was pretty accurate still because the bottom is MOP. Im not sure though if abalone shells are “sooo much” cheaper. The bag on its own (croc) still makes it expensive.

    tartfuel: prices were already like this before.

    ron: next time, promise!

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