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Have a passion for designing handbags? You’ve come to the right place. InStyle and Handbag Designer 101 have teamed up for the 7th Annual Independent Handbag Designer Awards! Undiscovered designers have until April 27th to compete for one of six different awards in handbag excellence, including Best Student Made Bag and Most Socially Responsible Bag. The readers of InStyle.com will vote on a Fan Favorite, and the lucky winner for Best Overall Style & Design will have the opportunity to design a capsule collection for Bloomingdale’s. Get your application in today at handbagdesigner101.com.

Need inspiration? See all of last year’s winners!

MORE:
• See the 2012 Finalists
• Who Won in 2011? See the Bags! 
• 2011 List of IHDA Finalists

The votes are in! The winners of the sixth annual Independent Handbag Designer Awards were announced last night during a ceremony hosted by Handbag Designer 101 in New York City. Designers from all over the world accepted awards in nine different categories—including Audience Fan Favorite. And thanks to your 230,000-plus votes on InStyle.com, you picked Jennifer Lang’s lace-inspired design with over 45% of the vote! “It feels great to have all this love from family and friends,” the Costa Rican designer told us. “I’ve received emails from people I’ve never even met. I feel thankful to them and all the audiences that voted for me and supported me through this long process.” Congratulations! Click through the gallery to see the rest of the 2012 IHDA winners, and visit hbd101.com to learn about the prizes.

— Grace Lee

There is only one day left to vote for your favorite independent handbag designer! Hundreds of independent designers from around the country—and the world!—submitted their most original creations for the 6th Annual Independent Handbag Designer Awards, and 30 finalists made the cut. Now, we want to know which styles you’d most like to get your hands on. The winners will be announced at a ceremony on June 13th, hosted by Handbag Designer 101, where one designer will be honored as the Audience Fan Favorite—chosen by you! Click through the gallery to see all the finalists’ bags and then vote for your top pick at instyle.com/ihdapoll2012. Polls close tomorrow, June 8th, so get voting!

MORE: 
• See the 2012 Finalists
• Last Year’s Winners
• 2011 List of IHDA Finalists