12:56pm UK, Tuesday April 27, 2004

Handbags bearing the inscription in French - "We're sorry our president is an idiot. We didn't vote for him" - have become a runaway hit in America.

One of the bags said to contain the tag

The bag's designer, Tom Bihn, says he had no idea the inscription - "Nous sommes desoles que notre President soit un idiot. Nous n'avons pas vote pour lui." -  had been included on the bags' washing instruction tag.

But he says that since the discovery was made, there has been an upsurge in sales.

"It is a mystery, but since we launched the bags with the label sewn, sales have doubled," said Bihn, 43. "It is a record in the history of the company."

He denies the message is targeting US President George W. Bush.

He said: "It depends on either your nationality, or the president you think is an idiot; you choose."

Clients throughout the United States have flooded his offices in Seattle and Port Angeles with calls and emails to order for the bags, he said.

The company received "varied reactions" including "hate mail from a French citizen who thought the label was addressed to (French President) Jacques Chirac."

But 80% of the Americans think it is an amusing message, he said.

The company has now launched a series of T-shirts, selling at US$20 each, with the same message, with funds going to a war veterans' centre in Seattle.