The handbag dotted with pink flowers and fitted with circle-shaped handles arrived in Hollywood in November, packaged neatly in light blue tissue paper. The return address was Roanoke.

Jacquie Wazir, a wardrobe assistant, opened the box and lifted up the bag. She took one look and rushed it to the filming set of ABC’s “Desperate Housewives.”

The bag matched perfectly with a black skirt that the actress playing Alma Hodge was wearing for a scene in the Sunday night prime time soap opera.

A handbag star was born.

“Josephine,” a purse designed by Claire V, a company based in downtown Roanoke, debuted Jan. 14 on “Desperate Housewives.”

Laura Bradford, president of Claire V and a fan of the popular television show, hasn’t missed an episode since then. Other Claire V bags may get a chance at fame. And like a proud parent, Bradford’s ready to cheer on their performance.

“Now I’m glued to the TV,” she said.

Josh Meltzer | The Roanoke Times

A hand bag that was recently featured on an episode of the television show, "Desperate Housewives."

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The bags got their break thanks to New York City publicist Nicola Parish, who mostly works with fashion and beauty companies, including Claire V. She mails catalog-like sheets highlighting her client’s best selections, though it’s not every day that her suggestions are chosen for national television shows.

The wardrobe crew at “Desperate Housewives” picked four other Claire V purses for use during the show’s season. They include two medium-sized shoulder bags, each embroidered with a cream floral design. Another bag is sage with an ivory sash.

But it’s difficult to predict when a particular outfit or accessory will be used in an episode, Wazir said.

“It depends on the script and the characters,” she explained. “Our designer chooses each outfit the day before their shot.”

Nonetheless, Bradford expects that Teri Hatcher, who plays Susan Mayer on the show, may be one of several characters who will carry the sage bag called “Abigail,” because “it’s very girly.” Hatcher plays a divorced, single mother whose primary missions are keeping a tight reign on her teenage daughter and finding love.

Bradford, 30, co-founded Claire V in 2002 with a vision of creating fair-wage jobs in other nations.

The chic, silk bags are designed in Roanoke and crafted in Cambodia by victims of land mine injuries, the handicapped and those living in rural provinces. The embroidery work is done in Vietnam. Claire V donates 10 percent of its sales to education and health programs for women and children in Asia.

Another downtown Roanoke retailer shares similar fame with Claire V, though not as recently. Two years ago, “Desperate Housewives” purchased shoes online from Dandelion Feet on Church Avenue.

Owner Kelly Fleming said an order for overnight delivery is a clue that a shipment may be headed to Hollywood. In 2005, just after she opened her shop, Fleming received an overnight order for two pairs of shoes through the store’s Web site.

The shipping address was Universal Studios, Hollywood. Fleming said a wardrobe representative told her the shoes were for Hatcher to wear on “Desperate Housewives.” The studio ordered a pair of floral-print, sling back pumps and flat, Brazilian sporty shoes. But Fleming never saw them appear on the show.

“I watched, but they don’t focus on the shoes,” she said.

Other celebrities have purchased Fleming’s shoes, including Yardley Smith, the voice for Lisa Simpson on “The Simpsons.” Fleming said the celebrities are likely searching online for certain shoe brands and discover Dandelion Feet’s Web site.

Meanwhile, word about Claire V’s $200 overnight order from “Desperate Housewives” for five bags at a wholesale price spread quickly. The company has received calls from the media and from public relations firms that want to market Claire V.

Furthermore, there was an uptick in the company’s online sales and traffic last month, which typically is a slow sales period, Bradford said. She did not know the percentage of the sales increase. The top of Claire V’s home page splashes the news of its “Desperate Housewives” debut.

Boutiques in Roanoke and across the country that sell Claire V bags also are making the company’s recent fame known to customers.

“People don’t know about you until others know about you,” Bradford said. “It’s a snowball effect.”

And the snowball is getting bigger.

Actress Lindsay Lohan has taken to Claire V’s silk shoe bags for toting pairs of footwear, Bradford said. Various bags also were featured in Brides Magazine’s February issue as suggestions for gifts for bridesmaids.

Claire V received an $800 order for at least seven of the bags after they were featured in the magazine, Bradford said.

She also has been contacted by Oprah Winfrey’s production team for a potential appearance on the talk show, she said.

A native of Texas, Bradford graduated from Wellesley College in Massachusetts, and afterward, she took off for 14 months to travel to several countries, including Australia, New Zealand and Cambodia. Bradford is fluent in French and German, and she’s on the executive committee for BPeace, a group that trains women who live in post-conflict areas about how to run a business.

Bradford moved to Roanoke from Boston in 2003 because she said a small- to mid-sized city was best as a home base for Claire V.

She has other goals for her company. Bradford plans to start a line of children’s clothing this year. She’ll carry embroidered dresses, quilted coats and other merchandise, some of which may match her handbags.

Bradford also wants to open a retail store in Atlanta to sell Claire V handbags and other merchandise. In 2004, she opened a shop in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Claire V also had a store temporarily in Charlotte, N.C., this past Christmas as an experiment.

Sales prove that Claire V is developing a following. The company’s online sales average $10,000 a month. But wholesale orders to shops and other companies make up a much larger share of Claire V’s total income, Bradford said.

As for her bag’s television persona, things aren’t exactly what they seem in prime time. It’s likely that the Josephine handbag was empty when “Desperate Housewives” character Hodge toted it up the street during its debut episode, Bradford said.

The bag still was folded back slightly, as if it just had been lifted from its box.