Cara Delevingne is Pulling a Jane Birkin

All throughout New York Fashion Week, Mulberry and Cara Delevingne were playing it coy. Mysterious tweets, a video of Delevingne with her finger over her lips, and the enigmatic hashtag #SeeYouSunday… all we knew was that the two were up to something. Delevingne is in-demand enough that whatever she touches turns to gold, but for Mulberry's sake, that secretive something needed to be good — seriously good. The British brand had a rocky 2013, what with a departing creative director and flagging handbag sales, and they're not doing a London Fashion Week show.

On Sunday, the brand revealed what they'd been hiding up their sleeve, and it's big: Mulberry has collaborated with Delevingne on a new signature handbag — echoes of Jane Birkin, anyone? — and the result is tomboy elegance embodied, like Delevignge all dressed up for a red carpet event, lipstick on and tattoos clearly visible.

The Mulberry Cara Delevingne Collection comes in three sizes, a variety of leathers, and features straps that immediately convert the bag from shoulder to hand-held to backpack, so that the bag-wearer — an popular girl on the go, if she's anything like Delevingne — can dash from day to night, from homework to dinner out, and from window shopping to hopping on the next train to Budapest without ever switching a satchel.

There's nothing fussy or superficially trendy about the bags, even the one in camouflage hair-calf (which, as Delevingne confessed to Vogue, might just be her favorite version). Inside each bag is a "hidden gem," designed to remind you of the bag's maker: a lion rivet and a heart-shaped patch, based on two of Delevingne's famous tattoos. Additionally, the bottom of each bag is stamped with "Made in England," just like the tattoo on the bottom of Delevingne's foot. Telegraph reports that prices will start beneath 1,000 pounds — if you'd like to know exactly when the bags launch, well, get on the list.

Mulberry aficionados may remember the Alexa bag — that's Alexa Chung, FYI — that racked up a waiting list of 17,000 names at one point. That sort of It girl validation is exactly what a struggling brand like Mulberry needs. And who better to remind the public of the brand's quirky, British cool than Cara?

Images: @mulberry_editor/Instagram