Michael Kors, fashion designer

At the last count I had, oh, around 25, my current favourite being a Mulberry Mitzi Hobo in purple pebbled leather. But I adore the others equally, and all are currently nestled in their dust bags, awaiting the call to active service.

I am, of course, talking about a woman's first love: handbags (that's plural, you understand; there is no such thing as infidelity when it comes to leather lust). And since spring is a time for romance, the siren call is in the air. I think I feel a fresh new flirtation coming on.

The big news is that the It Bag is back in style. As the western world plunged into recession several seasons ago, conspicuous consumption became the height of bad taste and fashionable bag ladies turned to discreet understatement for their arm candy.

But last month Selfridges announced sales of big-label bags were booming – up by 60 per cent in the last year. Which must come as good news to New York designer Michael Kors, whose latest line of luxury accessories hits the shelves this month.

"We have had an amazingly successful year," says the man who began his career at the age of 19 designing for Lothar's boutique in Manhattan. "Recession is a big word, and obviously the global economy has taken a hit over the past two years. But during difficult times, women don't stop shopping, they just become more discerning in what they are looking for."

And he insists that, even though some iconic bags can cost thousands of pounds (the Hermès Birkin, for example, retails for a mind-blowing ￡4,200), "quality is worth paying for". At least one happy shopper agrees with him: Victoria Beckham is said to own 100 Birkins, and for her Christmas present last year, she received a diamond-studded version worth ￡80,000.

And Chanel's classic quilted 2.55 is also enjoying a revival. Named after the date of its launch – February 1955 – its frequently-imitated chain straps were inspired by the key chains carried by wardens at the orphanage where Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel was raised.

Kors's It Bags of the season would be the Hamilton or Erin. "We can't keep them in stock," he says, "but they are also timeless enough to make you feel good about what you're buying."

Refreshingly, however, they will set you back significantly less than Hermès' tribute to Jane Birkin (the capacious number was created in the 1980s, after the actress spilled the contents of her too-small handbag on the designer's lap during a flight) – they range in price from ￡150 to ￡385. Though, when you consider the average British woman owns 111 handbags in her lifetime, that adds up to a major investment. The same study found the average 30-year-old owned 21 bags at any given time and bought a new one every three months. As Kors says: "You can never have too many handbags. Some need to stand the test of time, while others rotate in and out.

"When you're purchasing a handbag," he adds, "it's like a piece in your wardrobe: sometimes you buy a really expensive piece that you only take out for special occasions, sometimes it needs to work for your everyday life. Bags are the same. Additionally, the bag that you originally purchased as a special item over time works its way 'down' your ladder, and in five or ten years becomes your everyday piece."

"The idea of the It Bag has been going strong since the mid 1990s," says stylist Lindsay Campbell, "when women started subjecting themselves to six-month waiting lists to get their hands on the bags their idols were carrying. Some people have admitted a must-have bag is a higher priority than paying the rent.

"The It Bag is back because it is a statement of wealth," she adds, "just like a Ferrari is to a man. We can show the world how well we are doing just by hanging a bag off our arms."

But while the outsized Birkin still has waiting lists as long as our arms, bags are, on the whole, getting smaller as we begin to minimise our lives. A report by Debenhams found the weight we carry around on our shoulders every day has dropped from 3.5kg in 2006 to just 1.5kg last year, a 57 per cent reduction and the lowest level in seven years.

That's apparently because iPhones and BlackBerries have taken the place of bulkier items such as mobile phones, MP3 players and Filofaxes. "The women I know lead very busy lives," says Kors, "and they have a lot to think about. Their bags have to function, so most of them carry a lot of stuff. That's why we have lots of pockets and zip compartments, etc."

Michael Kors's influence on the fashion industry spans the last three decades, since he launched his own label in 1981. He was the first ever women's ready-to-wear designer and creative director for Celine in 1997, and is credited with turning the brand around with his show-stopping accessories collections. Vogue called him one of the most influential designers of the 1990s, and his ethos of "sleek and sophisticated, with a jet-set attitude" is perhaps best illustrated by the wardrobe he designed for Rene Russo in the film The Thomas Crown Affair.

In fact, he is so respected by the industry as a whole that he is to be honoured by a lifetime achievement award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America this year. He is no stranger to celebrity endorsement either, and his clothes and accessories are worn by everyone from Heidi Klum and Kate Bosworth to Liv Tyler, Barbra Streisand, Angelica Huston and Charlize Theron.

Hermès, of course, had Jane Birkin and Mulberry has Alexa Chung (this season's slouchy Alexa bag is almost too hot to handle), but Kors says he is as inspired by ordinary women as superstar style icons. "I love walking down the street and seeing real women carrying my bags; it's the most sincere form of flattery." Though he adds: "If it happens to be Angelina Jolie dropping her kids off at school, obviously that's a great compliment."