In fashion, a little tension is good. Not the kind that causes stress and wrinkles, the kind that causes heads to turn. Like, say, rustic/urban. Or handmade/sophisticated. A perfect example of this design paradox can be seen in these metal cage clutches by Anndra Neen duo Phoebe and Annette Stephens. Soldered together by blacksmiths in the sisters’ native Mexico, they’re the height of chic. Which, given the Stephens sisters’ background, is no surprise. Their grandmother was the artist and jewelry maker Annette Nancarrow and their grandfather was the avant-garde composer Conlon Nancarrow; the two lived in Mexico City in the 1930s and ’40s, where they were friends with Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo and Anaïs Nin. 

Thanks to their open design, the clutches, which are available in a paperback-sized rectangle or a palm-size oval, give you the opportunity to act as your own collage artist. Throw in something a little unexpected—a vintage compact, a lace-edged hanky—and see what sort of comments you get.