designer of the day: brontibay paris

it's not often that a designer sneaks up on me these days. so when i stumbled across brontibay paris, i was so giddy, it was a little scary, actually. my poor hubs had to endure at least an hour of "oh my god, this is so cute!" squeals as i went through their website at least 10 times. what can i say...he's very tolerant (or just selectively deaf).

anyway. brontibay is a leather goods designer based in france. their designs are remarkably fashion forward and fun, but also incredibly functional. the first piece i saw that made me fall head over heels was this darling venise tote ($175). i love that it can serve the same basic function as the longchamp totes that i think just about everyone owns by now (seriously, i saw a homeless person carrying one recently...it was distressing), but it's much more unique. plus, the colors are fantastic, and i love the contrasting handles! and you can pick this one up stateside at delfino, one of my favorite online bag sites.

when i couldn't find any more of their bags anywhere, i started digging a little deeper. turns out brontibay will ship to us poor americans straight from their website - yay! the good news: no VAT, so the prices shown on the website are cheaper once you get to the checkout & tell the site you're stateside (roughly 20%). the bad news: heinous shipping fees. i've decided they just about balance each other out, but just be aware - i don't want anyone suffering a stroke when they see the $40 shipping cost.

so, i figure, as long as i'm ordering, i should really order! i mean, if i'm going to pay that much for shipping, there should be a lot of stuff in that box, right?

i've been looking for a new makeup bag for my purse for months now, and brontibay's rebecca bag (about $80 when you take off VAT) is exactly what i've been wanting. bonus is that it's big enough (11"x5") to double as a clutch. the only problem is picking a color.

and i love the shape of this sonny tote as well - it almost looks like origami. the silhouette reminds me of a certain designer's classic silhouette, but the colors and casual styling are unique enough to set this bag apart.

i'm loving this nylon "tutu" tote, which is just about as girly as can be. it comes in a whole rainbow of colors, and would be just fabulous as a spring/summer bag.

and really, when i saw this caracas passport case, i thought "well, that's cute enough. until i saw the inside.

totally squeal-inducing. i may have actually gotten a little shrill.

have loads of fun browsing their site, and don't forget to let me know what you picked up!

tip: shopbop.comdoes stock a few of brontibay's pieces, but at a pretty dramatic mark-up (like $100+ per bag). makes those international shipping charges seem pretty reasonable, doesn't it?