After figuring out the perfect frock comes the need for the perfect handbag, and the past year has been a beacon of beautiful purses that make heavy contenders for that particular category. In this roundup in honour of the year gone by, we pick out the top of the heap and pay tribute to the designs that keep fashion evolving.

We’ve heard from the grapevine that slick high-street fashion retailer H&M is in the process of working out another collaboration with yet another star designer, but no one, aside from the bigwigs at the Swedish company, has any idea as to who it might be.

So, in the spirit of being imaginative, we give you our top picks for who might be (or, more precisely, who we wish to …

Hello Dubai recessionistas, priceless fashion is here! La Moda’s penny pinching fashion favourite this week comes from New Look‘s Spring Summer 2010 collection.

We’re loving the twin buckles and the stitch-detailed slits on the beige suede peep-toe pair. It’s all very ancient Rome gladiator meets Alexander Wang Fall 2009. We’d love to see other renditions of this piece, though! Perhaps velvety black and creamy white suedes plus shiny gold …