Although it was slightly overshadowed by a plug for InStyle Magazine and Kenneth Cole “productions”, the 2012 Independent Handbag Designer Awards were held last night at the Time Life building to honor innovative staple accessories imagined by a group of small fish in a very overwhelmingly large pond.

Described as the handbag fairy godmother, Emily Blumenthal organized the event which welcomed InStyle Managing Editor Ariel Foxman among other craft-friendly guests. She humbly asked the audience the rhetorical question: “Without these events how would we ever find these designers?”

2012 Independent Handbag Designer Awards also partnered with Ebags which is now Handbags.com, which I see is an attempt to go over the heads of handbag giant Zappos.com . Hopefully they can strike a chord with the small business advocates in the audience as they will be the preferred platform to sell the emerging handbag designers’ creations.

My personal favorite was the aqua colored Farah clutch (above) by the gorgeous Iranian-American sisters of the Ita Collection. It stole my heart–and first prize for best overall handbag.

See a list of the 2012 Independent Handbag Designer Award Winners here.