$250,000 relief effort by Florida designer

A Florida designer is planning a $250,000 Hurricane Katrina relief effort through the sale of special edition handpainted handbags with a New Orleans motif. Only 5,000 will be produced and $50 from the sale of every bag will be donated to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in the Gulf Coast. Piropo Designs has introduced a new limited edition handbag to aid in the hurricane Katrina relief efforts. Aptly named The Big Easy, the handbag features a very detailed hand painted St Louis Cathedral on the front and a wrought iron scroll work design with a Bourbon Street sign painted on the back. Lori Nanwani, creator and designer of Piropo Designs, felt she needed to do something for the victims considering the new hurricane season is hastily approaching. Because the bag is a limited edition, only 5,000 will be made. All the bags are hand sewn, hand painted, and then hand beaded using the highest quality materials including genuine stones. These special edition bags will also be signed and numbered by their artist. This special edition handbag available for $250 retail is also available at wholesale pricing when purchased in quantity. The goal is to raise the quarter of a million dollars for New Orleans before the new hurricane season. This handbag, as well as her other creations including coordinating jewelry can be found on [http://www.piropodesigns.com] or at Miami Fashion Week taking place May 6-9 at The Miami Beach Convention Center. Nowhere in the announcement is there any mention of the basic bag material. However, at $250 retail we hope they are made from leather. From the pictures on the website they look as if they are constructed from black leather.