All I Want Is This Silly Little Cat Purse

The 2025 red carpet has officially ended with the Met Gala on Monday. It’s fun looking back on the highlights of the red carpet season. Ayo Edebiri wore a Julia Roberts-inspired suit for the Golden Globes. Audrey Hepburn’s costumes were everywhere at the Oscars. And the Betty Boop Bang takeover was at the Met.
If you ask me, there was one star of the awards season, and I can’t get it out of my head: Valentino’s hand-painted clutch.
Since I saw the $5,000 minaudiere in Maude Apatow’s Claws at the brand’s Fall/Winter 2020 show this past February, it has haunted my thoughts. It appeared on Colman Dominik at the Academy Museum Gala and singer Charlotte Lawrence at the 2025 Oscars. Most recently, Clairo carried the $5,000 minaudiere down the blue carpet of this week’s Met Gala.
The 3d-printed purse looks exactly like the vintage knickknacks that I spent hours searching antique markets with my mother for. The pastel colours of the kitty and its wide-eyed look would fit right in with a 1950s playroom or nursery. It looks like a child’s toy, so much so that Valentino warns on its website: “This bag is for adults only. Please keep it out of reach of children.”
I’ll tell you what. I’m aware that this bag is not practical. The bag is two months’ rent, is not hands-free, and may or may not fit an iPhone. It’s fun because it’s so unique. The era of the silly accessory is upon us. Bag charms, animal-shaped clips for hair, bizarre ballerina-sneaker-hybrids… and the kitty bag is the ultimate boss.
The cat purse looks even sillier than the viral JW Anderson pigeon bag or Loweve’s leather tomato clutch. They’re at least chic in an artsy, quirky way. The cat’s smile is smirky, and it definitely falls into the campy, kitschy category.
It’s fun. I indeed love a trinket; I just look at the “girl mess” on my desk or the tchotchkes covering the bookshelves. This is the perfect piece for Sonny Angel collectors. Why buy a bag charm if your purse can be the bag charm?
This purse may not be practical, but it is so adorable that I can’t help thinking of all the adventures she could take me on. She would look great in my hand as I went out for drinks, to the ballet or window shop in Soho.
We could all benefit from a gentle reminder, especially in light of the current state of ….. Included is a cat purse.