Luxury handbag designer to the stars jailed for smuggling bags made from pythons

Victoria Beckham and Salma Hayek among celebrity customers

Handbag designer Nancy Gonzalez was sentenced to 18 months in a federal court in Miami for breaking US wildlife laws. Photo: Getty

John Dunne and Matt Watts
© Evening Standard

A luxury handbag designer to the stars has been jailed after smuggling purses made from the skins of protected reptiles.

Nancy Gonzalez (71), who has made handbags carried by Victoria Beckham, Britney Spears and members of the Sex and the City cast, pleaded guilty to illegally importing bags made from caimans and pythons into the US from her native Colombia.