For many people, a bag is the first luxury item they buy for themselves. Be it a Dior Saddle or a Bottega Veneta Andiamo, unboxing that bucket-list bag is a milestone. No wonder the global luxury handbag market is booming. The Economist reported that French multinational LVMH sold about US$13 billion in leather goods in 2013, and by 2023, was selling €42bn-worth—a 320 per cent increase in just 10 years. But while numbers are up, a traditional luxury bag has become increasingly inaccessible for many of us. The price of a Chanel bag has increased by almost 60 per cent since 2019. Meanwhile, Prada’s Galleria bag is now a breezy US$4,600—85 per cent more than it was in 2019. So it makes sense that a slew of new brands has popped up in the last few years to fill the gap left behind by these rising costs.
Meet the low-key luxury brands that are offering the qualities of a luxury buy—craftsmanship, superior materials, and even the same kind of instantly recognisable icon status (among those in the know, of course)—but that you can own without having to take on an EMI.
To make it clear, it’s not just the price that these makes these brands so covetable—the most expensive are still less than ₹50,000 while the cheapest start at ₹5,000. Their creations are not simply dupes, high-street versions of the same iconic designs—they are aspirational on their own. Selena Gomez recently took her crystal JW Pei bag to the Golden Globes. Priyanka Chopra is a fan of Yuzefi—she’s carried both a more structured box bag and a mini sling from the brand. Even Meghan Markle loves her forest-green DeMellier top handle purse. What brands like these promise is Tanner Leatherstein-approved craftsmanship and the fact that, even though they usually come sans logo and any obvious branding, they’re quiet luxury coded, and still manage to be distinct.
Social media has also fuelled the fire. The Reddit thread r/handbags is full of people sharing their new purchases and discussing the pros and cons of more niche labels. Headlines exclaim, “My Songmont Luna has arrived!!!” or “I discovered an affordable brand with really cool bag designs JWPEI”. There are already users looking for even cheaper versions of these brands—a sure sign that something has captured people’s imagination.
So rather than chasing a carryall that has already been extensively eulogised and immediately brings to mind a number of previous wearers, free yourself with a low-key luxury bag. One that offers you the chance to express a unique personal style. Ahead, our edit of brands for you to start browsing right away.
With inputs from Butool Jamal and Chloe Chou
