Handbag designers have come to realize that a celebrity handbag endorsement can bring street cred to their expensive designs. From Gwyneth Paltrow to Madonna to Sean Connery, many celebrities have lent not only their name but their faces to handbag campaigns in recent years.

It’s easy to understand why. If we covet a particular celebrity, it stands to reason that we would also covet the products they use and love. If we love Madonna, for instance, we might be more inclined to go shopping for the Versace bags that she promotes.

Usually, celebrities who are chosen to endorse products somehow represent those products in a way that is useful to the company. For example, Sarah Jessica Parker was once the face of Gap, but was replaced by the younger and hipper Joss Stone. Both are known for their unconventional and unique style, so they fit with the Gap brand.

Madonna lent her face and name to Versace, and there is even a Versace bag named after her – the “small Madonna Handbag” is a classic handbag but with a bit of a rocker edge thanks to the calfskin leather and shiny patent accents. Other celebrities who have lent nhot just their name to the Versace brand, but have also participated in ad campaigns include Demi Moore, Britney Spears, Halle Berry and Christina Aguilera.

Recently, Sean Connery was photographed for a series of Louis Vuitton ads that focus on the “classics”. Clad in khaki pants and a dark sweater, the always classic Connery is sitting on a dock next to his large Vuitton weekender bag. Other celebrity endorsers of Vuitton who have also been photographed for ads include Uma Thurman and, recently, former USSR leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

Of course, a celebrity endorsement and ad campaign starring said celebrity can also backfire on a design company. If customers decide, for example, that they no longer find a celebrity interesting, that celebrity can lose their endorsement contract. As well, if the company decides that the celebrity no longer represents what they are promoting (whether that is youth, wealth or classic style), they can choose to let the celebrity go in favor of one that better suits their needs.