Celebrities Can’t Get Enough of the Valentino Cat Purse

With the Met Gala taking place on Monday, the 2025 red carpet season has officially come to a close. With all the pomp and circumstance behind us, it’s fun to take a look back at the moments that defined the season. There was Ayo Edebiri’s Julia Roberts-inspired suit at the Golden Globes, a plethora of Audrey Hepburn cosplay at the Oscars, and the Betty Boop Bang takeover at the Met.

But if you ask me, there’s been one true star of this awards season, and I can’t stop thinking about it:Valentino’s hand-painted cat clutch.

The $5,000 minaudière, which looks like a large retro ceramic cat, has been haunting my thoughts since I first saw it in the claws of Maude Apatow at the brand’s Fall/Winter 2025 show this February. Since then, it’s popped up on Colman Domingo at the Academy Museum Gala, singer Charlotte Lawrence a the 2025 Oscars, and, most recently, Clairo carried it down the blue carpet at this week’s Met Gala.

The 3D-printed purse looks just like the vintage knickknacks I spend hours trolling antique markets for with my mom. The kitty’s pastel colors and wide eyes would make it feel right at home in a 1950s nursery or playroom. In fact, it looks so much like a toy that Valentino’s website offers the following warning: “This is not a toy but a bag for adults, keep out of the reach of children.”

Here’s the thing. I know that the bag is impractical. It’s two months of rent, it’s not hands-free, and the jury is out if it even fits an iPhone. But that’s what makes it so fun. We’re in the era of the silly little accessory—bag charms, animal-shaped hair clips, weird ballerina-sneaker hybrids—and the kitty purse is the final boss of silly little accessories.

The cat purse is even sillier than the ultra-viral JW Anderson pigeon purse or Loweve’s leather tomato clutch. At least those are chic in a quirky, artsy way. There’s no denying the cat is ridiculous—look at it’s smirky smile!—placing it firmly in the kitschy campy category.

Which is what makes it so fun. There is truly nothing I love more than a silly little trinket—one look at my “girl mess” strewn desk or tchotchke-covered bookshelves would conform that—and this is the ultimate piece for the Sonny Angel connoisseurs. Who needs a bag charm when your purse is the bag charm?

It may not be the most practical, but I truly can’t stop thinking about this purse and all the adventures we could have together—she would look so cute clutched in my hands out to drinks, at the ballet, and for a day of window shopping in Soho.

And considering the state of…. everything right now, we could all use a reminder not to take things so seriously. Cat purse included.