With Maria Grazia Chiuri now at Dior,  Pierpaolo Piccoli is on his own at Valentino, and the latest Rockstud Spike Bag is his latest creation.

There is an entire campaign surround this bag alone, shot by Terry Richardson, featuring randomly chosen people off the street in lower Manhattan, to illustrate how regular people would carry the bag. And yes, lower Manhattan instead of the Upper East Side because the concept was inspired by Humans of New York, and in so doing, to actually ‘destroy’ the aura of luxury that surrounds it, if you will, so that it becomes the “every-person’s bag”. This documentary-styled footage is captured in a series of viral-videos directed by Terry Richardson.

The Rockstud Spike comes in 3 sizes: Small (US$2,195), Medium (US$2,795), and Large (US$3,195), and is priced between €1,550 to €1,990 in Europe. No updates as to the availability and the pricing in Malaysia just yet.

As for my verdict on this, this new rectangular shoulder flap bag still sports the classic Rockstud DNA – the clasp, the chain strap, and of course, the signature pyramidical studs methodically scattered all over the bag (what the designer calls “punk dotting”). Yet, the bag is less structured, and more spongy, thanks to the quilting, and Piccoli also manages to do something that we hardly see on bags – a thick and cushy top handle on a flap bag, which makes it sit super comfortably on the arm. That said, and being an absolute fan who still isn’t tired of Rockstuds 5 years after their introduction, this bag is slightly too OTT for me, and a little *gasp* el cheapo, to be honest.

Images courtesy of Valentino