Ralph Lauren has high expectations for his latest handbag collection, called The RL 888, which bears all of the designer’s style signatures.

Comprised of a crossbody, top handle and mini crossbody chain, each bag is crafted by artisans in Florence. The baggage have defined angles and dramatic curvature inspired by Latest York City’s architecture. Even the gathering’s name is a nod to the designer’s roots in Manhattan — 888 Madison Avenue is the address of Lauren’s women’s flagship.

The RL 888 collection is being offered in an assortment of exotic fabrications, similar to alligator, and box calf leathers, which add a smooth texture and firm construction. Every bit is cut by hand. The baggage even have a sleek RL logo, offered in palladium, brass or champagne finishes, which function a closure featuring a push lock.

“The RL 888 stands as a testament to timeless artistry, with each bag being made by hand and individually constructed by expert artisans. I even have chosen to personalize the bag with my very own initials — RL — like a three-dimensional piece of art,” Ralph Lauren, executive chairman and chief creative officer of Ralph Lauren Corp., said on Friday.

Lauren said the handbags were designed with timelessness in mind.

“Once I was a young man, I used to be drawn to clothing and objects that were designed for a purpose. It was about character and authenticity — things that last with a timelessness that never goes out of fashion. A girl’s handbag is like that — each an object of beauty and utility, a trusted companion storing the essentials she carries along with her each day. And although she may change it from everyday or day to nighttime, there’s one which she chooses that’s most her own, that enhances her every mood,” Lauren said.

In explaining how he anticipates his customer will wear the RL 888 and for what occasions, the designer said, “I’m enthusiastic about The RL 888 since it shouldn’t be only beautifully crafted, and signed with my initials, but I feel it’ll enhance the private form of the lady I design for. I’ve at all times believed that ladies are independent — daring and romantic, modern and timeless — particularly in the case of the best way she dresses. Her personal style is an indication of confidence. She’s going to make the RL 888 handbag a part of her individuality wearing it with a horny black dress or a rugged pair of jeans as she writes her own story, wherever she lives.”

The baggage start at $1,800 retail and go as high as $15,000.

For the past several years, the corporate has been on a quest to raise its image and costs. Collection is its most elevated women’s proposition, and purses contribute to this elevated positioning. Actually, handbags proceed to be a high potential category of growth for the Ralph Lauren brand.

Overall, Lauren raised its average unit retail prices 15 percent across its direct-to-consumer network, on top of an 8 percent gain a 12 months ago, as reported earlier this month when the corporate released first-quarter results. The upper-end focus and strength in Europe and Asia helped the corporate blunt the impact of weakness within the U.S., its home market, and to top estimates for the primary quarter.

As reported, for the primary quarter ended July 1, Lauren’s net income rose 7 percent to $131.1 million from $123.4 million a 12 months earlier. Revenues for the three months inched as much as $1.5 billion from $1.49 billion a 12 months earlier, a rise of 1 percent in constant currencies that was led by Europe and Asia. 

“Should you step back big time, we actually reset the foundations of our brand,” said Patrice Louvet, president and chief executive officer, earlier this month in a WWD interview. “This isn’t only one quarter or two, that is years of labor to essentially deliberately elevate every facet of the buyer experience. We remain on offense.”

To support the handbag launch, Lauren has created an ad campaign highlighting the juxtaposition of the sleek, modern and Deco-inspired handbag against an otherworldly, rough and leathered landscape.

Discussing the thought process behind the campaign, Lauren said, “I’m inspired by the fantastic thing about the natural world — a land of contradictions where sky and rugged terrain convene. It’s the proper environment to specific the unchanging great thing about The RL 888 and the independent spirit and private form of the lady that writes her own story.…She is daring and romantic, modern yet timeless. Just like the bag she carries — The RL 888.”

Featured within the campaign are 30-year-old German model Anna Ewers and 34-year-old Chinese model Fei Fei Sun. The campaign tells the story of a girl and her most personal accessory, sharing its romance not only through photography but through a movie titled “Outside of Time,” directed by Diana Kunst and shot by Robert Elswit.

Set against a golden landscape of fields, shadow peaks and rustic picket fences, the 2 women roam “outside of time,” becoming different characters wearing a pared-down tank, weathered jeans, cowboy hat and boots, or an easy black dress, bringing to life their personal style via The RL 888 handbag.

Launching this month, The RL 888 campaign will likely be featured across global print and digital outlets, in addition to on the Ralph Lauren digital platforms.

Embracing the interplay between the digital and physical worlds, Lauren will introduce The 888 House — a conceptual digital expression created using state-of-the-art computer generated imagery technology that invites consumers to immerse themselves and shop the the world of Ralph Lauren from their homes.

That is the primary time that Lauren has used CGI to create an immersive digital experience. But the corporate, which has long been on the forefront of experimenting with digital technology in the style world, previously used CGI in video content, digital projections on its store fronts, and on the 4D Central Park fashion show in September 2014 that projected sky high images of models walking on water wearing the designer’s collection.

The brand continues to place the buyer at the middle of every little thing it does, and appears to re-engage with existing customers while also attracting each latest full-price and younger consumers to their business. There’s absolute confidence a big population of those younger consumers are engaging with digital-first and virtual experiences, and Lauren looks to attach with them within the places they gravitate to essentially the most.

Standing inside a virtual desert landscape, The 888 House mirrors the “RL” logo in a surreal fusion of fantasy and reality. Using 3D modeling, dynamic lighting and gravity-defying physics, The 888 Home is an immersive and interactive shopping experience.

Upon virtually entering the space, consumers are capable of wander through the assorted rooms and discover shoppable Ralph Lauren Collection Icons, featuring mannequins in various looks starting from trousers and gowns to denim and suede jackets, and The RL 888 Handbag, prominently positioned throughout the space. On one wall is Lauren’s famous quote, “I don’t design clothes. I design dreams,” and other partitions feature various imagery. Inside The 888 House, Lauren’s physical garments and purses are mixed with the newest in modern technology. Consumers are capable of select any product and shop without exiting the experience.