It is always something to see a celebrity sweep into Venice Film Festival, wearing a one-of-a-kind gown that required who knows how many weeks to bring to life, but it is their off-duty moments that tend to inspire the most. Not because they are any less curated, of course – salaried teams of stylists will have put those outfits together, too – but because, well, how many of us are ever going to pivot and pose before a hundred-strong bank of photographers? It is far easier to see yourself reflected in a pair of jeans, worn with a handbag tucked under one arm.

The best off-duty looks – care of models Bianca Balti and Kendall Jenner – at this year’s Venice Film Festival thus far have one thing in common: a suede handbag. Balti carried Brunello Cucinelli’s Explorer with a poplin shirt, barrel-leg jeans and penny loafers as she disembarked from a water taxi at the Excelsior yesterday morning, while the perennially ballet-flatted Jenner paired a cream tank and tailored trousers with an as-yet-unreleased Chanel weekender from Matthieu Blazy’s cruise 2027 collection to climb aboard hers later that afternoon. (Chanel really is making the best bags at the moment, all of which look good when travelling. See: airport images of Dua Lipa’s gargantuan, nautically striped resort 2027 tote.)

The current trend for suede handbags began somewhere between Chloé’s autumn/winter 2024 and Miu Miu’s spring/summer 2025 collections. Since then, they have proliferated on the runways at Jacquemus, Prada, JW Anderson and Bottega Veneta, found champions in Bella Hadid and Daisy Edgar-Jones, and filtered down to the high street – despite suede being a wholly impractical choice for something used every day. It takes on the oils from your hands, every brush against a wall or dark spot left by the rain making it look far older than it is. But that vulnerability – alongside its velvety touch and storied patina – is also what makes it feel precious. Even when new, a suede bag looks lived-in, which, I suppose, is the very appeal of an off-duty moment: it offers something a sleek, frictionless red-carpet image does not.