Tina Kunakey Is Responsible For The Kooples’ New It Bag – And It’ll Make You Excited To Carry Handbags Again

Maybe you haven't carried a proper handbag for what feels like months but with yesterday's announcement, and a renewed feeling of optimism in the air, arm candy is about to come into its own. Someone who's always treated handbags with the appreciation they deserve is Tina Kunakey, the French model. 'I never leave the house without a bag,' she tells me, and now has her own namesake bag thanks to a just-launched collaboration with The Kooples. The Tina is a bucket bag, or a sac seau as she refers to it, that comes in mini and medium sizes, and an array of pastel hues as well as white and black, the latter of which she describes as 'a must-have'.

Come mid-March, Kunakey will also be launching a clothing collection with her husband, the actor Vincent Cassel, a unisex capsule that reflects her own penchant for straying into his side of the wardrobe. 'I borrow a little bit,' she admits, before reeling off a list of items that she steals from Cassel, including jackets, shirts and T-shirts. When I ask whether he minds, she laughs. 'It depends. If I put it back in the closet it's fine!'

In fact, their first meeting ended up with Kunakey, who was wearing a tank top and leather trousers at the time, borrowing a cardigan from Cassel. 'He was wearing denim, a mustard-coloured T-shirt, and a navy blue cardigan that I stole on that first night,' she remembers. Tina for Vincent is a capsule in the best sense of the word in that everything goes with everything, thanks to a colour palette that ranges from black to ecru, and silhouettes that are easy to thrown on and head out the door (think loosely-cut blazers, shorts made out of sweatpants material, jeans, tank tops, bucket bags and denim jackets).

Kunakey's favourite piece is the denim shirt. 'I think it’s a classic and it's just comfortable and elegant,' she says.