Object Timeline

  • We acquired this object.

2016

  • Work on this object began.

2020

2025

  • You found it!

Handbag

This is a Handbag. It was designed by Alaa Balkhy and made for Fyunka.

This object is not part of the Cooper Hewitt's permanent collection. It was able to spend time at the museum on loan from Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco as part of Contemporary Muslim Fashions.

It is dated 2016. Its medium is painted leather. It is a part of the department.


New York-based designer Alaa Balkhy founded her collection, Fyunka, in response to her multinational lifestyle and her feeling of homesickness for her native Saudi Arabia when she was abroad. The illustrated characters on her designs are based on the ubiquitous gender identifiers found on the restroom doors throughout the Arabian Peninsula.

It is credited Courtesy of Alaa Balkhy.

Its dimensions are

H x W: 22.9 × 20.3 cm (9 × 8 in.)

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Contemporary Muslim Fashions.

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.

If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-6.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/2318797293/ |title=Handbag |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=20 March 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>