Carrol Boyes returns to leather with a new handbag collection that brings archival design into the hands of a new generation.
In the early 2000s, Carrol felt that functional art shouldn’t be home-bound. Some of it was meant to leave the house with you. This idea inspired her to translate her design language to handbags. Carrol Boyes’ own everyday crossbody became a starting point for exploring how functional art could move beyond objects for the home and into something personal, practical and wearable.
What followed was an evolving conversation between form and function: early handbags, wallets and purses defined by distinctive all-pewter hardware; a later era of grey leather designed to develop character with wear; woven interpretations; and archival forms rediscovered for a new generation.
Now, the story returns to leather. Launching on the 16th of October 2026, the new Carrol Boyes leather handbag collection revisits the material language of Carrol’s earlier designs through the perspective of her niece and Creative Director, Caro Boyes. Rather than reproducing the past, Caro draws from it. Carrying familiar sculptural ideas forward through contemporary silhouettes, considered functionality and signature metallic hardware.
At the heart of the collection are three heritage motifs: Diver, Toe Touch and Cradle. Each reaches into the Carrol Boyes design story and brings something distinctive back with it.
Diver first appeared as a zipper pull and handle detail on Carrol’s early leather pieces. Reimagined by Caro, the figure moves from detail to focal point, taking centre stage across two Flap Bags and a Phone Pouch. Caught mid-motion, Diver brings a sense of fearlessness and grace to the collection; suspended somewhere between effort and ease, past and present.
Toe Touch reaches further into the archive. Originally discovered as one of Carrol’s early prototype sculptures, its purpose may not have been immediately apparent, but its presence was unmistakable. The poised figure, captured in an elegant forward stretch, speaks to flexibility, balance and movement. In the new collection, Toe Touch becomes the defining detail of the Chain Purse, bringing sculptural character to a compact everyday form.
Cradle traces its story to 2004, when the sculpture appeared on one of Carrol’s early leather pieces. An abstract figure held in an embracing pose, Cradle carries a sense of quiet strength and nurturing. Today, the motif returns across two studded Phone Pouches and the collection’s hero piece, the Studded Slouch Bag that’s familiar in spirit, but seen through a new lens.
The return to leather is as much about material as it is memory. Selected for its balance of suppleness and structure, the leather complements the shape and function of each bag while being suited to everyday use. Sculptural metallic details bring the unmistakable Carrol Boyes point of view to pieces designed not simply to be admired, but carried.
“I wanted to take our sculptural design language beyond the home, creating art you can carry,” says Caro Boyes, Creative Director. “From the sculptural shapes to the distinctive hardware, each piece balances art and function while carrying the Carrol Boyes legacy forward in a new way.” For Caro, taking on the handbag is both personal and creative. The new collection draws on Carrol’s designs while allowing them to evolve in her own hand.
A handbag is among the more personal objects we own: carried close, reached for instinctively and taken through everyday life. Accordingly, each piece has been designed to move between occasions rather than wait for one. Each is a piece of functional art intended to become part of the life of its owner.
Three decades on, one generation has picked up where another began. But the roots remain the same. With Carrol’s designs and Caro’s interpretation, the story continues.
The new leather handbag collection is available online and at Carrol Boyes stores across South Africa, and exclusively online through the Carrol Boyes UK store.
