Inside the Collection: Meet Ilene Wood

1. Spring 2018 Graffiti Balenciaga Leo Bag

Ilene calls this stylish bag her "Message from God" bag. Although it's not a messenger bag, it held one of the most important messages on the bag itself. 

Ilene had been trying to start a traveling museum exhibition featuring many of her historical handbags. Then she received a phone call from a museum offering to sponsor her—it was the call she had been waiting for. 

This bag was purchased the day she got the good news. The message featured on the bag read: "Nothing is impossible. A dream you have will come true." She took it as a sign.

This bag is a Spring 2018 Graffiti Balenciaga Leo bag. According to our expert, it’s no longer available for purchase with the graffiti writing, making it even more rare to own.

He valued this vintage bag at $1,700. Although it may be worth a pretty penny today, its message makes it priceless.

2. 2001 Crocodile Birkin Bag

All three of these bags are iconic names in handbag history because they are among the oldest and most sought-after bags around.

One of them is the Kelly bag, named after actress Grace Kelly. This style of bag can be seen in the 1955 film To Catch a Thief. According to Ilene, Grace Kelly fell in love with the bag during filming and asked to keep it once the movie was complete. It quickly became one of the most famous bags of its time.

According to our expert, these bags are incredibly hard to come by. It’s nearly impossible to find in stores.

Ilene had to join a waiting list for over two years just to get her hands on one of these handbags.

Originally, Ilene paid around $6,000 for this pop culture piece. Today, our expert values the bag at $60,000 due to its rarity and influence on pop culture.

3. Loewe Lantern Bag

These bags all light up! Ilene is delighted every time she sees one.

According to our expert, its value has increased since the '40s and '50s, and it still works perfectly. The functionality is key with this item. He valued it at $1,500.

4. Mark Cross "Rear Window" Attache

The common thread in these bags traces back to Grace Kelly, specifically from the film Rear Window. In one scene, she shows up carrying this bag.

She opens the bag to reveal a negligee. While the man’s eyes went to that, women’s eyes were drawn to the bag.

These are called leather box bags, originating in the '50s. However, Ilene has the most recent contemporary leather box bag. They are rare, but she found hers online and paid $500 for it.

An early box bag would be worth around $1,000, which is an amazing return on investment for something that’s 60 years old.

5. O.E.L. Graves Bag

These bags are a bit creepy—well, not according to our collector, but according to both our expert and Lisa! What do you think?

These bags are by an artist named O.E.L. Graves, who was famous in the '40s. He expanded into dimensional paintings, and one of his art patrons asked him to create a handbag.

If you open the bag, you’ll find a dedication like "Happy Birthday." The woman who owned it has her name inside the bag. She owns all eight to ten of them, and there are only a limited number around today.

Our expert said it's a piece of art, but the value is up in the air. He estimated that one of them would be worth around $400, so a whole collection could be worth quite a lot.

6. Ann-Marie of Paris Collection

These bags are designed by Ann-Marie; we don’t know her last name.

She created these bags called figurales, which are shaped to look like something else. These are sculptural.

Her shop was located in the Hotel Meurice in Paris. The hotel ordered these to be given to every female guest as a New Year's trinket. Because of that, there are only a few of them.

She has about 30 of these in her collection. They are whimsical and treated as decorative objects.

For the whole collection, they are valued at $5,000 each, totaling $150,000 for the entire collection. That kind of money wouldn’t even fit in these bags!

7. The total value of Ilene Wood's handbag collection: