Susannah Frankel: Ready To Wear

It should, perhaps, come as no surprise that while high-end bags become ever more preposterous where both price and intricacy of design are concerned, a made-to-order service to be introduced by Prada this week is positively restrained by comparison. Not for Mrs P anything as blousy – or, indeed, gimmicky – as injecting leather with Botox to make it softer (pah!). Neither has this powerful fashion force collaborated with a celebrated artist du jour to create a piece of Pop Art dangling from a gilt chain (pah and more pah!).

Instead, the first Prada made-to-order bag is reassuringly rigorous, understated even. It is neat and boxy, as opposed to curvaceous in the baroque/ rococo style beloved of the world's designers of late, and nowhere near as overembellished as all those hardware-laden, ostentatious status-symbol bags that are currently in vogue.

That's not, of course, to say that this is a budget buy. Measuring 34cm in length, 14cm in depth and 25cm in height – relatively small by current "it" bag standards – prices start at £2,225 for snakeskin and £2,425 for ostrich (020-7235 0008). Crocodile is also available on request, in which case the sky's the limit (add noughts as you please). This is clearly not the greatest of news for some of God's creatures, but then neither is a calfskin diary/lambskin purse/pair of gleaming leather brogues (delete where appropriate).

The Prada made-to-order bags come in all the colours a fashion follower could wish for, including turquoise (Miuccia Prada hates this colour, which is why she uses it as often as she does, she says, as well she might); fuchsia (the designer dreams of pink accessories, even though she herself tends to favour brown); orange, and more neutral "anemone".

The Prada logo is present and correct, of course, but is far from screamingly obvious, nestling unobtrusively on only one side of the bag. The colour of the lining can be chosen by the customer, and she will be free to add or take away any pockets and compartments to suit her particular requirements (handbag heaven, then).

As is often the case with anything pre-ordered, this was never likely to be a quick fix – and that, perhaps, is the point. While the WAG population takes pride in parading one designer bag after another, apparently tiring of any £1,500-plus design worth mentioning in a matter of weeks, this one's for life – unless, of course, you're the type to order one in every colour, which is not recommended.

And so, madam will have to wait for her bag for no less than eight weeks. No matter. Patience is a virtue after all.