When Jane Birkin’s original battle-scarred Hermès Birkin fetched a cool $10 million at auction last month, the fashion world breathed a collective sigh of relief. The buyer? Not Kim Kardashian or Lauren Sánchez Bezos but Japanese luxury goods reseller Valuence, whose CEO said they plan to treat the bag as a cultural heritage piece and make it accessible for public viewing. It was a welcome twist to the auction, one that ensured the Birkin wouldn’t simply become another billionaire’s latest trophy. It declared that lived-in is the new luxe, that authenticity trumps perfection, and a bag, chosen with foresight, can be a bona fide asset.
But not everyone can own a priceless Hermès Birkin, and if you look around, it’s clear that the very definition of an ‘investment bag’ is undergoing a fascinating metamorphosis. It’s no longer solely about eye-watering price tags or years-long waiting lists. Instead, we’re talking cultural cachet and personal resonance. In this era, quiet luxury coexists with the thrilling, democratic chaos of cult drops, and a bag’s true worth is measured as much in personality as its resale value.
Shifting sands: what’s driving the change?
So, who’s orchestrating this sartorial stock market shake-up? Look no further than the generations currently dictating everything from TikTok trends to global spending habits: Millennials and Gen Z. TheRealReal’s 2024 Resale Report reveals a compelling narrative. Powerhouses like Louis Vuitton and Chanel still dominate overall searches, appealing to “Boomers and Zoomers alike”, as Noelle Sciacca, associate director of women’s fashion & strategic partnerships at TheRealReal, points out in the report. She, however, also mentions that there’s a palpable shift in what they’re searching for. Prada, for instance, has perfectly tapped into the ’90s and Y2K trends, cementing its status as “Gen Z’s most-searched brand”. And Miu Miu, with its playful, subversive charm, has seen a remarkable 470 per cent year-on-year increase in searches for its vintage pieces. Forget chasing fleeting fads, we are talking about a fundamental re-evaluation of what luxury truly means.
“Shoppers are more down-to-earth now, at least when it comes to their bag buys,” states TheRealReal report. While spends continue their upward trajectory (shoppers are shelling out, on average, 20 per cent more on bags today than they were five years ago), the largest uptick in buyer growth (13 per cent) was observed in the £1,000-£3,000 (between ₹1 lakh to ₹4 lakhs) price range, with a clear “focus on good investments over trends”. This suggests a desire for accessible luxury that still promises enduring value.
This new guard of consumers is also heavily influenced by the quiet-luxury or stealth-wealth aesthetic. Think less ‘look at me’, more IYKYK. Brands like The Row and Loro Piana are leading the charge. Lorenzo Altimani, category lead for bags at Catawiki, a prominent online auction platform, told us that The Row’s Margaux and Loro Piana’s P19 are “incredibly well-crafted bags and high in demand due to scarcity”, leading to “high bidding activity”. It’s a subtle nod to discerning taste, a rejection of overt branding in favour of impeccable craftsmanship and timeless design. Both brands are relative newcomers to the bag market—The Row only launched accessories in 2011, and Loro Piana, while a heritage house, is better known for its cashmere than its luxury accessories.
In terms of the specific styles that are higher on the bag stock market, Altimani reports that mini bags that hold just a lipstick and a phone are out and, instead, “slightly larger and more functional bags are seeing the highest demand”. This includes the Bottega Veneta Hobo, the Goyard Saint Louis, and the ever-resilient Louis Vuitton Neverfull, which was launched in 2007.
But it’s not all calculated moves. Sometimes, it’s pure, unadulterated love at first sight that can result in a high-value buy. Designer and avid bag collector Radhika Pitti perfectly encapsulates this: “A couple of years ago, my friend and I were in Paris when we both picked up the cutest bag in a beautiful shape and colour. Four years later it’s all the rage; everyone now wants a Polène, but I had never heard of it when I bought it.” (For the record, the Polène Numéro Dix now sells for an average of 92 per cent of its MSRP, or manufacturer’s suggested retail price, on the resale market—a happy accident indeed.) This instinctive connection is paramount for Pitti and a lot of other buyers, for whom a personal resonance is a powerful, albeit unquantifiable form of investment.
The new holy grails
So, finally, if you want to take the plunge and make that investment purchase, what’s it gonna be? Beyond the usual suspects, ahead are the pieces cementing their status as the bags of tomorrow.
