*NEWSBITES

That's Sartre, not Prada: the newest must-have accessory for fashionistas is – a book.

The idea is to look intellectual, but horn-rimmed glasses perched on your nose are so, well, yesterday. What you need is a clutch bag that looks exactly like a book -- giving new meaning to the word "pocketbook."

Some people might think that anybody who spends their time flipping through ad-filled glossy fashion magazines has probably forgotten how to read and definitely has no idea who Thomas Mann or Emily Dickinson are. But American actress Chloë Sevigny, French model and actress Clémence Poésy, and other high-brows, are trying to prove the contrary by carrying clutch bags embroidered with the covers of literary masterpieces by the likes of Nabokov, Salinger or Fitzgerald.

The bags, which have gold frames and clasps, are the brainchild of London-born French designer Olympia Le-Tan who is part of the clique surrounding Purple Fashion Magazine founder Olivier Zahm in Paris. It was just a question of time before the daughter of renowned French illustrator Pierre Le-Tan came up with her own creative pursuit. Three years ago, armed with a love of literature and a penchant for embroidery ("I inherited a talent for it from my grandmother"), she launched her first accessories.

A brief look at all the "sold out's on www.net-a-porter.com is enough to see that Le-Tan's clutches are very sought-after. That they cost more than €1,153 (over $1,500) each doesn't seem to deter those in search of just the right literary fashion statement.

Read the full original article in German by Olivia Muller

Photo – Olympia Le-Tan

*Newsbites are digest items, not direct translations