Hey buddy, hope you’re ready for a handbag – a significant number of women’s accessories designers are turning out new or expanded lines for men.  WWD says the uptick is because it’s increasingly accepted “for a man to ‘accessorize.’”  Those who have recently launched men’s lines include handbag designer Rebecca Minkoff, under the name Ben Minkoff, the jewelry line Dannijo, and Swarovski (yes, the crystal company).  Meanwhile, Jimmy Choo is set to debut men’s footwear this June.

This Swarovski pendant is not for you, ladies.  It’s for your husbands.

For her part, Minkoff sees a need for men’s bags as a function of new technology – guys, especially the ones who live in urban areas and presumably don’t have cars, need a way to transport their phones and iPads.  Tamara Mellon, Chief Creative Officer of Jimmy Choo, has a more fashion-focused take on her line’s launch: “The first thing I look at on a man is his shoes.”  We assume that means those shoes better be nice.  We also wonder, then, if the idea behind these lines is that a man would be accessorizing himself, or a woman would be doing it for him.  In fact, after these new collections have been around for a season or two, what we’ll be interested to see is some data on who leads the purchases — women for men, or men for themselves?