Kate Spade’s “Book of the Month Clutch” is back in the news!  You might remember that little hullabaloo back in February when Kate Spade originally debuted their line of clutches that resembled books. They were cute, quirky, and original…thought fashion designer, Olympia Le-Tan, when she designed a similar line that debuted in the fall of 2009.  Le-Tan accused the designer brand of copycatting while the creative director at Kate Spade told Vanity Fair that the inspiration for the line came from “want[ing] to pretend we had our own publishing house.” A Salon article from February points out that

considering that Le-Tan’s line got a fair amount of press right here in the company’s home turf of New York City when it debuted last fall, it seems a little peculiar that the concept went entirely unnoticed by the more famous bag maker.

Not that we’re choosing sides…creativity is all about redaction and reinterpretation, right?  And if Lady Gaga can do it…we’ll let you decide.

Olympia Le Tan was inspired by the actual first edition book covers.

The designers at Kate Spade redesigned uncopyrighted works.

Anyway, if you’re on team Spade, the bags are now available for pre-purchase and will be delivered at the end of August.  Priced at $325, you can probably decide between buying on of these or purchasing one of your Fall 2010 textbooks. Well, you were probably going to drop that class, right?

-B.C.Bodnar