Hendrix handbags a new fashion experience

For the "Foxey Lady" who has everything: the Jimi Hendrix handbag.

The greatest guitarist in rock 'n' roll was also quite the snappy dresser -- taking the stage in groovy threads befitting his role as a leading light of the psychedelic era -- and now his name will adorn a fashion line coming out in the fall.

The Jimi Hendrix Collection, a line of high-end leather jackets and handbags, will make its presence known in department and speciality stores.

A collaboration between designer Gina Alexander, Janie Hendrix (Jimi's sister and the executor of his estate) and rock photographer Robert M. Knight, the collection premiered July 16-18 at the Project Show in New York.

The line consists of five jackets, 12 better designer handbags and 16 junior market handbags, according to Alexander. Each item will feature one of three rare images of the legendary guitarist, including onstage shots from his 1968 shows at San Francisco's Winterland venue.

According to Janie Hendrix, president/CEO of Experience Hendrix, fans have been asking for high-end fashions for quite some time. "And we now have more women as fans," she adds. Which helps to explain a luxury women's line like this one.

Pausing, she says, "Gina's created the leather jacket I've always wanted to buy."

"With this line, we're giving the Jimi Hendrix name something stylish and couture, and not just another T-shirt," Alexander says. Smart move, considering the number of Hendrix T-shirts -- legally sanctioned or not -- sold around the world.

Janie credits the abundance of bootlegged Hendrix merchandise to an "old administration that didn't care about licensing." Since taking over the "family business" a decade ago, Janie's goal has been "to create and help put Jimi's music and image out there in creative, original ways."

Janie acknowledges that, between publishing and sync licenses, it is the music that brings in the lion's share of income. "But merchandising does well for us, too," she notes. "Of course, we're usually in five different litigations at any one time."