My PURSEonal Favorites: 300 Bags from the World’s Largest Handbag Collection

This exhibition will showcase 300 handbags from the collection of Ilene Hochberg Wood curated especially for the FWMoA as a collection of her personal favorites–the bags she carries with her on a daily basis that are most dear to her.

The collection ranges in style from folk art, to contemporary designer to embroidered, and is the third exhibition of a curated selection of Wood’s collection, which numbers into the thousands, making it the largest in the U.S., if not the world. Visitors will have the opportunity to explore a timeline of the handbag, representing the trends of each decade, and to experience a selection of handbags that Wood counts as her favorites, many of them unusual and rare, acquired by Wood in her decades of collecting.

Designer highlights include Jimmy Choo, Fendi, Betsey Johnson, Karl Lagerfeld, Balenciaga, Christian Dior, Nicoletta Carlone, Andy Warhol, and Nettie Rosenstein.

Support for this exhibition comes from Vera Bradley, Jae and Justin McGee, and the Edward D. and Ione Auer Foundation. My PURSEonal Favorites was developed in partnership with Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites.