It's not a person, but a bag. Hollywood hottie Jennifer Aniston, young Bollywood talent Sonam Kapoor and TV star Cynthia Nixon are connected by a new best friend

It's not a person, but a bag. Hollywood hottie Jennifer Aniston, young Bollywood talent Sonam Kapoor and TV star Cynthia Nixon are connected by a new best friend

Is the world finally shrinking? And may we add, rather stylishly. Bounty Hunter, Jennifer Aniston's recent Hollywood outing at the box office, redefined the vocabulary of friendship. Navigating on the cue of its racy screenplay, her bail-jumping reporter character Nicole Hurley, was tirelessly chased by ex-husband played by Gerard Butler. Caught between hot pursuits and narrow escapes, her constant companion was not a person but the classic Sofia bag, which she nonchalantly held on to its semi-rigid handle in one scene, tucked under her arm while crossing the road, and slung around her shoulder when she made a run for her life.

Back home, there are similar tales of camaraderie. The Sofia has apparently become Aisha's (Sonam Kapoor's screen name) BFF in the much-anticipated Bollywood release, slated for a August release. An adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma, Aisha pits Sonam against Abhay Deol.u00a0

Italian luxury brand Ferragamo believes in building relationships with their merchandise, as one would, say with a close friend. This marketing tool posits a make-believe world where customers are compelled to look beyond the typical functional and aesthetic facets of a handbag, and believe they own a slice of history.

The Sofia handbag owes its name and full-bodied spirit to Sophia Loren, the voluptuous Italian actress who dazzled Hollywood by her screen presence in the late fifties. With Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe and Greta Garbo, she patronised the young and passionate shoemaker Salvatore Ferragamo. In the 1930s and 40s, when leather became scarce, Ferragamo made one-of-a-kind shoes by experimenting with more readily available materials like cork and cellophane. Loren once walked into his boutique claiming she had no shoes to wear and left with 60 pairs of Ferragamos in different styles and colours. The cult bag Sofia is a tribute to Loren, who was a client with a personality rather than a fashion victim.

Every handbag comes with a promise: Chanel for Parisian timelessness, Gucci for Italian flamboyance, Christian Dior for design dexterity, Louis Vuitton for logo-dropping, Herm ufffds for stubborn perfection. Ferragamo's Sofia for savoir-faire attitude; one that connects Aniston, Kapoor and Loren into a sisterhood of eternal style. If you want to join in, shell out Rs 68,000.

Sonam Kapoor in Aisha

Touted to be India's first fashion-forward film, Aisha tells the story of a young, stylish upper-class Delhi girl who is not a fashion victim. Sonam Kapoor, the actress who plays Aisha, is festooned in international luxury brands Dior and Chanel, and is seen carrying the Sofia bag ufffd her best friend. The version she carries in camel is called Kuban Gommato; a combination of cotton and linen. It's water-resistant and rubberised.

Jennifer Aniston in Bounty Hunter

This 2010 Hollywood release has its lead actress Jennifer Aniston lose her Manolo Blahnik heels while on the run, but the bag stays close to Nicole (Jen's character in the film) throughout the frantic adventures.

Sex And The City 2

Sarah Jessica Parker's unabashedly stylish alter ego Carrie Bradshaw famously declared, "I'm thinking b*lls are to men what purses are to women. It's just a little bag, but we feel naked in public without it." Need to say more!

Who needs an umbilical cord?

This mother-daughter are bound by a branded bag

This pint-sized sparkler is already kicking up some stylish storm. Suri Cruise was photographed clutching on to a Mini Sofia bag while mother Katie Holmes toted the leather, mercury-coloured Sofia bag in Jamaica, this January. From the Fall 2009 Collection, the Mini Sofia is part of a limited edition and takes inspiration from the classic. "Whatever she wants to wear, she wears it," said Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise about daughter Suri on the Oprah Winfrey Show. The 47 year-old actor even confessed to taking fashion tips from the mini fashionista: "She's got great taste too. She tells me what to wear."

"The size is such that it perfectly fit her arms and thus compliments the bambino without making her look grown up," said brand Ferragamo of the Mini Sofia that costs a cool Rs 56,000.