PARIS — Alexandra Golovanoff, the French former television presenter turned knitwear designer, is known for her perfect cashmere sweaters . Now she’s launching what she hopes will be the perfect handbag .

For her first foray into leather goods, she turned for advice to her longtime friend, Pierre Hardy . That lunchtime conversation ended up giving birth to their first collaboration. “It was time we had a baby,” Golovanoff joked.

The brief for the Alex bag, which lands in stores on Tuesday, was simple. “I am the brief,” she deadpanned.

An accessories fiend who got to know Hardy through his shoe designs for Balenciaga in the early 2000s, under Nicolas Ghesquière, the keen cyclist was searching for a boxy yet supple style that would become a go-to for all occasions.

Hardy came up w

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