While at the museum, Forbice met a man who was the owner of an old doll factory in Venice, which ended up serving as the catalyst to launch ForBitches. When Forbice visited the museum, he was struck by the eerie features of the broken-apart dolls. “The atmosphere of that place was creepy and cute at the same time. That is exactly what I like as a combination.” he says. “I saw little heads, arms, legs, and accessories made from it.” The length of the bags, six inches for the leather and nine inches for the cellulose diacetate versions, are the standard sizes for action figures and dolls. The look book has a yesteryear touch with a fuzzy, muted filter in the format of how ’60s toys were displayed, and the boxes that the bags come in boast a swirly sweet text by Italian artist Michele Moro that reads: “For bitches. no ifs, ands, or Butts. be mine.”
There’s also an element of ’00s pop culture in the collection, particularly the era’s oversexualized riff on girlish purity. In the ForBitches design, Forbice referenced noughties-era icons like Britney Spears, and also Paris Hilton, overtly sexy, warped references. They tie in perfectly with Forbice’s attitude-packed, saccharine, and almost Lolita-like bag aesthetic. “No matter for boys or girls—as everyone has a bitch inside—I wish ForBitches to be an embodiment of a combination of innocence and a wild modern generation,” he says. And as to what to carry in them? These tiny bags pack the essentials. “They are nice, small, and useless,” says Forbice. “Just for condoms, cigarettes, credit cards—that’s what you need. Lipstick too.”
