When Marchesa, purveyors of ultra glamorous red carpet gowns, announced they were launching its first accessories collection for Spring / Summer 2010 I could barely contain my excitement.  After seeing a snippet of the collection, I am gobsmacked.

The collection, which includes 28 clutches and evening cases, debuted at Marchesa’s Spring presentation during New York Fashion Week and the bags are as elaborate as the brand’s dresses, with such details as beading, pleating and corsetry. “We had never done accessories,” said co-founder and designer Georgina Chapman, who founded Marchesa with Keren Craig. “So we thought, ‘Let’s approach it the way we approach a dress.’”

Key styles include a silver clutch with an explosion of beading and embroidery in an elongated oval shape and clutches with tassels. There are also exotic skins such as alligator, crocodile and lizard done in rich colors like aubergine and ochre. The bags will retail from $995 to $5,000 for an exotic skin.

There are elements of jewelry in the collection as well. The handles are beaded and incorporate crystals, and every bag in the line is topped off with a hand-cut rock crystal. All the beading is done in India, but the bags are made by hand in Italy.

The handbags coordinate with the mainline dresses (the company also has a lower-priced special occasion dress line called Notte by Marchesa), but Chapman said they could be worn from day to night. “Some people don’t always have an occasion for a gown,” said Chapman. “You could wear these with jeans and a T-shirt.”

Marchesa dresses are currently sold in high-end stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman.