PARIS (AFP) – A "township bag" offered to French first lady Carla Bruni during a trip to South Africa is selling for 100 euros at a chic Parisian boutique to raise funds for poor residents of a Cape Town slum.

A total of 421 copies of the bag, made of a cotton and hessian blend in the vibrant colours of the South African flag, are up on sale and the proceeds will help the residents of Khayelitsha, a sprawling shantytown adjoining Cape Town.

The former top model picked up the bag, nicknamed the "Carla," during her trip to South Africa in February. The bag is made by a non-governmental organisation Bidonville, meaning shantytown in French.