Later this month, the glittering baubles and watches that line cases in Cartier's boutiques will be competing for the spotlight with Marcello de Cartier bags.
Marlin Yuson, creative director for Cartier leather goods, admits jewellery and watches are always going to be the main event. 'The bags are the supporting cast but an important character,' says the designer, who has worked with Ferragamo, Polo Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein, and spends her time between Florence and Paris.
The fact that the brand is not known for its leather goods has long represented a challenge for Yuson. 'In a way we are battling a common perception of the brand. Most people don't realise that Cartier does leather bags,' she says. 'If you weren't part of a generation that knew that Cartier did leather products, then the Marcello bags would come as a surprise. I still get that, even after 10 years with the brand. There's no bag campaign and there won't be. The leather goods are part of the family, but they'll never be independent products.'
Yuson says Cartier bags were considered 'it' bags in the '70s and '80s, modelled by celebrities such as Tina Turner. 'Then it stopped. Cartier did other dressy bags but very, very classic bags. And then the whole handbag accessories craze took over.'
When designing the Marcello, Yuson knew what a contemporary bag should - or rather, shouldn't - be. 'I really don't see it as an 'it' bag, not something as ephemeral as what's in trend,' she says. 'I didn't want it to be too old-fashioned and seem like a relic, either. I didn't want to stick a panther or leopard on it; that would be too easy. I haven't put in animal prints, either, yet. And it's really not for 'ladies who lunch'.'
Yuson decided to maintain the hard corner of Cartier's earlier bags. 'I wanted to keep that iconic bookend sort of arch. The bags needed volume and pockets to be practical for the woman on the go.'