“If Mick Jagger were a lady, this is what he’d carry,” says Matthew Suarez of Suarez Inc. holding aloft a painted python satchel in bright orange.

On the shelves of his store on Park Avenue at 57th Street are bags to delight and astonish. Made of hand painted python, glazed alligator in vibrant colors, and unglazed, which is a tactile surprise, tulle and satin, they bring out the acquisitive consumer in the best of us. Ostrich leather and microfiber happily combine in imaginative satchels, hobos mix satin and suede in candy colors accentuated with rhinestone buckles, tiny totes are paraded in lilac, pink and lime green, and chocolate calf leather satchels sport bright orange lining. And, for the man who has everything, there are briefcases in ostrich leather. Prices range from $300 to $6,500.

Mr. Suarez’s grandparents came to America from Spain, and his grandfather founded the store in 1938 on Fifth Avenue near 30th Street. “When the manufacturing sector started to dry out in the United States, my father went to Italy to have things made,” says Mr. Suarez. Suarez bags are still made in Italy with rare attention to detail.

“When I started in the business, the product was the thing. Now, it’s the name,” says Mr. Suarez. But you won’t find his name emblazoned across his handbags. They announce themselves forcefully enough by their design and the materials used.

In the economic downturn after September 11, Mr. Suarez decided to go for quality, slash profit margins, and focus on design and value. Clients remained loyal, things improved, and 2004 was the company’s best year so far.

“My client is typically a confident woman who is quality-conscious and wants to be different, unique,” says Mr. Suarez. “We have handbags that are owned by just three people in the world, there is no mass production.”

“I used to think about design,” Mr. Suarez says, “I don’t anymore. I just trust that if I’m stuck right now, I won’t be in an hour. I am a color freak, I’ll do colors that are not of the season, and I like to be ahead of the curve.”

But he’s also a businessman. When, as sometimes happens, three generations of a family come to him for handbags, they can count on extraordinarily crafted versions of standbys-with-a-twist, adventurous meditations on style, and out-and-out cutting-edge experimentation.

What does the future hold? “Another store, probably in the Village or the Meatpacking District, where Suarez designs can be exclusively showcased.

He’s off to Italy again in February, preparing his next collection, charging ahead with new designs, experimenting, growing.

Suarez, 450 Park Ave., (212) 753-3758