Smart new Cocullo Italian leather clutch

If there is one bag that you buy this season, make it a clutch. It never dates and it will take you from season to season, from summer weddings to autumn races and winter balls, particularly if you buy a classic style—and this new leather clutch, designed and made in Italy, is the definitive classic.

The very name of the bag indicates its stylistic origins. Cocullo is where the Italians hold an annual snake festival—but this is in fact patterned leather, satisfyingly thick and buttery-smooth in the hand, and the tactile snake texture is all the decoration you need. This clutch is larger than many others. Ideal for slipping your wallet, keys, lipstick and compact, iPhone and even a small kindle into for an evening event, or wear dressed down with a trouser suit. It fastens with a magnetic clasp, and becomes hands-free when you clip on the elegant narrow gilt chain. This is a clutch which commends itself for practicality as well as style.

As to colour, we love it in navy as well as in black, and in an unusual colour named ‘snakebite leather’, which is in fact a natural snake brown. Each will lift an outfit and add just the right touch to the future autumn-winter fashion colours—the blue hues, the warm coppery bronzes, olives and browns, and flame red.

The Cocullo has a practical wipe-clean lining and a zipped pocket keeps valuables safe while separating the interior into two compartments. Size: 26cm wide by 15cm high and 4cm in diameter (10in by just under 6in and 1 1/2in deep).
RRP £90. CCUK £45. Free UK mainland delivery.