Jun 21, 2002 /FWD/ --- Bags carry an almost unprecedented cultural currency these days.

For fashionettes, wielding the right one means, in short order, that you've got the right stuff.

For designers, being wielded by the right people means that you've arrived.

So it stands to reason that Flavio Olivera, whose totes are currently favored by style mavens like Cameron Diaz, Rosie Perez, Sela Ward, Kirsty Hume and Rebecca Romijn Stamos and are ringing registers at Barneys, is It.

The numbers, Olivera happily accounts, attest to that fact quite nicely.

"I have been in the business for only two-and-a-half years, and in the last year the business grew about 80% in total sales," Olivera tells FWD from his studio in Los Angeles.

"And for this year I am projecting a growth of at least 150 percent."

Olivera runs his operation in L.A., where he once ran shoe couturier Robert Clergerie's store.

After a stint as Clergerie's Latin American agent left the Brazilian burnt out, he decided to slow the pace and start designing his own line of bags.

Judging by the rave reviews he's gotten, it looks like Olivera's found his calling.

"Flavio Olivera is one of our favorite vendors," says Carrie Chapman, accessories buyer for Barneys Co-Op.

"The leather, the texture and his sense of color are quite spectacular. The bags are so wearable -- they are just really cool."

Olivera's treatment of leather, most of which is imported from Italy, is one of his line's greatest draws. The result is incredibly soft, and colored to perfection.

"For spring/summer 2002 the shades were tans, blues and cherry red. For fall/winter I used distressed leather and designed bags in strictly fall colors: cognac, olive, honey and chocolate," Olivera explains.

Olivera is also right on when it comes to styling, and putting pocket and pleat details onto his fall looks.

"They are all very vintage looking bags with a certain modern twist," he adds.

The designer always has his clients in mind, though.

"My customer is generally in her mid 20`s through to early 40`s, and always professional and hip," he says.

"These women need a bag designed to fit under their shoulder nicely without being uncomfortable and, more importantly, that is unique and has a cool style without it being too obvious who designed it."

Taking functionality as much to heart as fashion, Olivera originally designed the hot-selling Voyage bag for himself.

"After so many compliments I decided to keep it in the collection and it is selling very well," he says. "I use it all the time."

Olivera is also introducing a line of belts for fall that he describes as "somewhat simple."

But the four vintage looking styles in distressed leather - including Olivera's favorite, the BLT-MAR, a flat number with two little straps and two silver buckles -- are already selling like mad. "[The BLT-MAR] looks great if hangs low on the waist over a pair of jeans and a T-shirt and sexy shoes -- and of course one of my bags."

Flavio Olivera is available at Barneys, Takashimaya, Fred Segal, Traffic and Big Drop.

Flavio Olivera Spring 2002

Flavio Olivera Spring 2002

Flavio Olivera Spring 2002