Many thanks everyone. Knomo was already on the radar as a possible, as I have a Warwick bag myself and rate it very highly for looks and functionality. I think it's quite heavy though when packed with laptop, cables and stuff, and choice of colours is down to manly black or brown. I've just been having a look at the Piquadro site and there's lots of interesting stuff there, with a good range of colours as well, so that will certainly be something to point her at. Tumi's Georgetown likewise. Mandarina Duck will follow.

Re the corporate culture at her work, it seems pretty relaxed without being positively Californian. Not informal but individual, so fitting in doesn't involve greyest common denominator. The colour issues are more about the bag matching with various capsule outfits.

I put the question here because from my early research there seem to be lots of lovely stylish bags for women which lack the practical touches needed for air travel these days. And lots of severely practical business travel bags targeted at men. And not much in the middle. I had hoped that Knomo, for example, would do something much like the Warwick but less hefty and in some of their other colours and materials, but their range for women appears to put fashion over function. It's that stylish, fashion AND function middle ground I'm looking for.