Sales of the “it” bag are set to plummet - a significant sign of the economic downturn

Bye-bye, Roxanne. Farewell, Manor. Ta-ta, Nancy. Adieu, Giselle. Off you go, Hobo. Ave atque vale, Ramona.

The celebrity handbag is on its way out. It’s one of the umpteen signs that the economy is in slowdown, that conspicuous consumption is not where we’re at. Celebrity or “It” bags cost anything from 500 quid to 10,000, depending on the skin of the creature they are made from and the designer. They are the kind of accessory worn by Victoria Beckham. More than half of British women bought a handbag last year - in the case of girls aged 15 to 24, more than seven in ten - and a large number bought one that cost about a month’s
salary. This year half a billion pounds will be spent on swanky handbags.

One distinguishing thing about the It bags is that most of them have a name. The Nancy, for instance, is the Smythson bag, named by its director, Samantha Cameron (wife of David), after her daughter. The Giselle is the creation of the young Brit designer, Luella Bartley, for supermodel Giselle Bundchen. The Ramona is a Jimmy Choo creation. And so on. All the big fashion houses have them, signature bags that - together with make-up and perfume - constitute a bigger percentage of their profits than clothes.

Now, according to the retail forecaster Mintel, their era is drawing to a close. Or at least demand is slowing and women are thinking about buying the high street take on couture bags, or eco-friendly versions, rather than the things themselves.

If you are a man, this phenomenon may have passed you by. You may have noticed that your wives or girlfriends, if high maintenance, are wearing bags of inordinate size, possibly in scary purple or green. But the nice distinction between, say, the Blow Bag - Alexander McQueen’s tribute to Isabella Blow - and the Bay Bag by Chloé, is likely
to be lost on you.

Which is tragic for the women concerned, because they cost £985 and £886 respectively. As so often in fashion, the phenomenon is down to women buying to impress other women.

I hate them. There is something morally repulsive about an accessory that costs so much for such a short lifespan. A couple of generations ago a woman might have bought a Hermès Kelly bag as a lifetime investment. Now you buy a designer bag for a season. The style guru, Tamasin Doe, former fashion director of InStyle magazine, puts the street life of an It bag at about six months. After that it loses its status value.

There will always be enough Russian oligarchs’ girlfriends to keep the top end of the market afloat. But if normal women are starting to shun It bags, it’s either bad news for the Chancellor or a welcome sign that an entire sex is coming back to its senses.