Student bags a spot on designer label

CHARLIE McCREEVY used one to carry his budgets into the Dáil, Mary Robinson carried one on her shoulder on her first visit to Leinster House as president, and the Anglo-Irish Agreement was signed in a specially commissioned green one.

The Chesneau bag, briefcase and leather-case label has a lot more history than your typical designer gear. But now it is expanding its collection to appeal to a younger, trendier fashionable crowd.

The so-called “handbag architect” Edmond Chesneau was born in Paris but has lived and based his work here for the past 30 years. His designs cost between €200 and €400.