Preciously Paris is a line of ultraluxe clutch bags fusing contemporary art, veritable haute couture and fun.

Tongue-in-cheek motif, sizzling technicolor and collectable status rule the vibrant world of Preciously Paris. The range zooms in on the clutch bag and its horizontal format, available in four sizes. For day or evening, every clutch is hand-embroidered with a limited edition of just 38 pieces per design.

Preciously Paris was born, unexpectedly, from one woman’s own jeans. Carole Tessier – the designer behind the label – is a denim kind of girl, albeit a very singular one. A non-conformist, she customized her jeans with whimsical messages and naughty cartoon imagery, all embroidered by Jean-François Lesage’s league of exceptionally skilled petites mains.

Carole Tessier wore her jeans to Art Basel in Miami, where collectors instantly asked if they could have their own denim intervened. Although a series of personal orders ensued, this was not the project that she was after. This was a hobby and Tessier is not one for minor tasks. A celebrated interior designer and consummate collector of contemporary art, she decided to apply her vast knowledge of textiles and informed taste on a hyper-focused project: The clutch bag as a canvas for novel visual expression.

“Instead of jeans, I decided to work on another item of femininity: the clutch”, says Tessier. “A classical and concise shape specifically for true collectors, women who have had enough of overexposed, overbranded It Bags”. Despite the hundreds of hours of work devoted to making each bag, Preciously Paris is intent on bringing irreverent fun back to the drained world of accessories.

For day or evening, every clutch is hand-embroidered with a limited edition of just 38 pieces pre design.

Haute irreverence, most certainly. The collection is entirely handmade in a small town where Hermès produces part of their bags. Embroideries are produced in Paris; the leather and velvet are from French couture suppliers. Denim is bought in Japan and the silk satin comes from Italy. Even the packaging is one hundred percent luxe. Each bag comes in a numbered, limited-edition black box handcrafted at the factory supplying Dior Haute Couture in Reims.

Contemporary art is at the very backbone of Preciously Paris. Tessier lives and breathes the essence of her collections: her own world. Inspiration comes from the work of Damien Hirst, a friend of Tessier’s, as from Takashi Murakami, who intervened the bedroom of two of her six daughters. A collaboration with American street artist Toxic led Tessier to spraypaint an embroidered nappa leather clutch with very bold results.

Tessier is eclectic in her approach. Just as art moves her, so does an eccentric collection of vintage banknotes – so far ten currencies have inspired some of Preciously Paris’ most intricate designs. Fascinated with manga, the designer also brings slightly deranged baby deers to an equation of irony and couture.

“The embroidered Bambies are a bit like the name Preciously Paris”, says Tessier, “they are a little bit terrible and a touch rock’n’roll, but they’re also luxuriously precious”.