Money Bags

Sari Brown, founder of online handbag retailer LuxCouture, obsessively combs Parisian ateliers and Italian showrooms to find the next big thing before it hits Barneys. Now, the self-proclaimed “mad professor” of purses brings her trove to a bricks-and-mortar boutique in Newton Highlands.

Velvetine’s Iggy hobo, $1,900
The order was delayed for six months when the perfectionist French designers decided to remake each bag.

JT Italia’s Air satchel, $3,300
Calls from eager-to-please husbands keep flooding in after the bag was spotted on pop star Rihanna’s arm.

DeCouture’s R-21 satchel, $1,750
At Paris Fashion Week, this label sent handbag buyers into a paparazzi-esque frenzy, Brown reports.

D’Angel’s Tia tote, $550
In Indonesian python versus the more luxe Italian variety, the Tia is a (relative) bargain. “I’m selling truckloads to customers in Asia,” she says.