The Power of a Luxury Handbag

Summary

The Business of Fashion Podcast: "The Power of a Luxury Handbag"

Release Date: April 22, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of The Business of Fashion Podcast, host Sheena Butler Young delves into the profound impact luxury handbags have on fashion brands' image and financial success. Joining her is BoF luxury correspondent Simone Stern, who provides expert insights into handbag innovation, consumer behavior, and the delicate balance brands must maintain to stay relevant in a saturated market.

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1. The Central Role of Handbags in Luxury Branding

Sheena Butler Young opens the discussion by highlighting the significance of handbags beyond mere accessories, positioning them as powerful symbols of status, taste, and identity. Simone Stern elaborates on this, emphasizing that luxury bags often become the most recognizable items associated with a brand.

Simone Stern [01:25]: "A bag is often the most recognizable, iconic item that people associate with any of these designers or luxury brands."

She explains that handbags drive commercial success because they are both functional and aspirational, encouraging repeat purchases due to their everyday utility.

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2. Iconic Handbags: The Hermès Birkin and Beyond

The conversation shifts to the enduring legacy of the Hermès Birkin bag, introduced in 1984, which remains a coveted item decades later. Simone offers a provocative take on its sustained popularity.

Simone Stern [02:46]: "I don't really personally see why the Birkin is all that I... It might not speak to me, but it speaks to a lot of consumers."

She attributes its success to impeccable craftsmanship, strategic scarcity, and the lasting allure established through its association with the iconic muse Jane Birkin.

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3. Contemporary Handbag Innovations: Celine's Wing Shape and Alaia's Tecl

Sheena draws attention to recent handbag sensations like Celine's wing-shaped bag and Alaia's Tecl, discussing what sets these bags apart.

Simone Stern [04:34]: "Phoebe Filo added kind of these wing shapes to the side of some of her bag designs... it gave that classic square or rectangular shape an innovative twist."

Simone notes that innovation in shape and functionality, such as expandability and unique silhouettes, resonates strongly with consumers seeking both style and practicality.

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4. Pricing Strategies: Accessibility vs. Exclusivity

The discussion moves to the pricing dynamics of luxury handbags, contrasting the high price points of Hermès Birkin bags with the more accessible pricing of Alaia's Tecl.

Simone Stern [06:19]: "The Alaia Tecl is somewhere between one and a half to $3,000, depending on the market."

She highlights that while the Birkin's exclusivity is maintained through scarcity and high prices, brands like Alaia offer elevated quality at more attainable prices, attracting aspirational shoppers without alienating broader customer bases.

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5. The Aspirational Shopper: Gateway to Luxury

Sheena posits that handbags act as "gateway" items for aspirational shoppers, allowing them to invest in luxury without committing to more expensive apparel.

Simone Stern [08:07]: "A lot of aspirational shoppers... want to actually show, yes, I could afford this designer bag."

Simone agrees, explaining that recognizable luxury bags serve as accessible entry points, fostering brand loyalty and encouraging future purchases across different product categories.

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6. Innovation vs. Innovation for Innovation's Sake

The conversation delves into the necessity of meaningful innovation in handbag design. Simone distinguishes between impactful, brand-consistent innovation and random changes that may not resonate with consumers.

Simone Stern [11:08]: "Innovation for innovation's sake doesn't work because the brand really needs to innovate in a way that still resonates with the overall brand identity."

She underscores the importance of maintaining a brand's signature aesthetic while introducing fresh elements that keep the product line exciting and relevant.

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7. The Challenge of Imitation and Overexposure

Simone discusses the vulnerability of successful handbag designs to imitation, particularly by fast fashion brands eager to capitalize on popular trends.

Simone Stern [13:12]: "If a bag is successful, others will want to copy it."

She notes the limited legal protections for handbag designs, making it difficult for luxury brands to prevent knockoffs, especially when consumer bases differ. Additionally, Sheena and Simone explore the pitfalls of overexposure, using Dior's Book Tote as an example of a bag that, while initially successful, became oversaturated in the market.

Simone Stern [22:51]: "Unless you can create that fake scarcity that brands like Hermes create... you almost can't avoid overexposure."

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8. Handbags as Catalysts for Brand Revival and Revenue

Highlighting success stories, Simone cites Alaia's Tecl and Dior's Book Tote, illustrating how standout handbags can rejuvenate brands and significantly boost sales.

Simone Stern [24:12]: "Thanks to the Tecl's performance last year, Alaia was able to offset the really not so great performance of Richemont's other fashion brands."

These examples demonstrate how a single innovative handbag can have far-reaching effects on a brand's overall performance and market presence.

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9. Strategic Innovation: Avoiding Handbag Fatigue

In addressing how brands can sustain interest in their handbag lines, Simone advises empowering creative teams to explore new ideas while staying true to the brand's core identity.

Simone Stern [26:17]: "Empower your creative design teams and give new voices a chance."

She emphasizes the balance between heritage and modernity, suggesting that continuous, authentic innovation is key to preventing consumer fatigue and maintaining relevance.

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Conclusion

The episode underscores the pivotal role luxury handbags play in shaping brand identity and driving commercial success. Through expert analysis, Simone Stern highlights the delicate interplay between innovation, exclusivity, and consumer behavior that determines a handbag's impact in the fashion industry. Brands must navigate these dynamics thoughtfully to harness the true power of their iconic accessories.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Simone Stern [01:25]: "A bag is often the most recognizable, iconic item that people associate with any of these designers or luxury brands."

• Simone Stern [02:46]: "I don't really personally see why the Birkin is all that I... It might not speak to me, but it speaks to a lot of consumers."

• Simone Stern [04:34]: "Phoebe Filo added kind of these wing shapes to the side of some of her bag designs... it gave that classic square or rectangular shape an innovative twist."

• Simone Stern [06:19]: "The Alaia Tecl is somewhere between one and a half to $3,000, depending on the market."

• Simone Stern [08:07]: "A lot of aspirational shoppers... want to actually show, yes, I could afford this designer bag."

• Simone Stern [11:08]: "Innovation for innovation's sake doesn't work because the brand really needs to innovate in a way that still resonates with the overall brand identity."

• Simone Stern [13:12]: "If a bag is successful, others will want to copy it."

• Simone Stern [22:51]: "Unless you can create that fake scarcity that brands like Hermes create... you almost can't avoid overexposure."

• Simone Stern [24:12]: "Thanks to the Tecl's performance last year, Alaia was able to offset the really not so great performance of Richemont's other fashion brands."

• Simone Stern [26:17]: "Empower your creative design teams and give new voices a chance."

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This comprehensive summary captures the essence of the episode, providing valuable insights into the multifaceted role of luxury handbags in the fashion industry. Whether you're a fashion professional or an enthusiast, this discussion offers a deeper understanding of what makes certain handbags not just accessories, but pivotal elements of brand strategy and consumer identity.

Transcript

[Sheena Butler Young]

Hello and welcome to the Debrief from the Business of Fashion, where each week we delve into Our most popular BoF professional stories with the correspondence who created them? I'm senior correspondent Sheena Butler. Young. Luxury handbags are more than just accessories. They're powerful symbols of status, taste and identity, often becoming central to the image and financial success of many luxury brands. From the iconic Birkin to recent sensations like Elias Techle and La Mer's croissant, handbags can dramatically shape mainstream fashion narratives and rejuvenate entire fashion houses. But what exactly makes certain handbags resonate deeply with consumers while others miss the mark? How do brands balance innovation, practicality, and the ever present threat of copycats in such a crowded market? Joining us today to answer these questions and discuss her story on handbag innovation is BoF luxury correspondent Simone Stern. Carbon Simone, welcome back to the Debrief podcast.

[Simone Stern]

Hi Sheena. Thank you so much for having me.

[Sheena Butler Young]

A lot of our listeners probably love a good handbag and maybe they've even splurged on a pricey one or two. But what they might not realize is just how central handbags are to a brand's growth and its status. So can you break down why luxury bags carry so much weight in a fashion house's image and its commercial success?

[Simone Stern]

Absolutely. When you think of the image, just think of any brand right now. Louis Vuitton, Bottega Veneta. What item comes to mind? It's most likely a bag, right? So a bag is often the most recognizable, iconic item that people associate with any of these designers or luxury brands. On the commercial side, it's really interesting because I think a lot of consumers don't realize how central bags are to a brand's financial success. They sell well because, well, whether you're a bag fan or not, most of us carry at least one bag a day or maybe multiple. So it's an easy, functional way to elevate your look. And it also serves a practical function. So bags are something that people will purchase time and time again. They will use them daily. And if done right, it really becomes the totemic product for a brand.

[Sheena Butler Young]

You know, when I think of an IT handbag and this feels so cliche to say, but like, what comes to mind to me immediately is the Hermes Birkin. It was introduced like over 30 years ago in 1984, but it still holds this immense cultural like cachet. It's one of those bags that has remained so coveted and maybe 30 years isn't that long ago, but it is the Consummate it item. What's behind that success? What did Hermes do to pull this off?

[Simone Stern]

So I'm going to say something very controversial here. I don't really personally see why the Birkin is all that I. I know.

[Sheena Butler Young]

I know, I agree with you.

[Simone Stern]

This might be the last time I come on the podcast. But honestly, I think that it is still a matter of taste and also of who the bag speaks to. And it might not speak to me, but it speaks to a lot of consumers. Why is that? Well, of course there is the craftsmanship. It's made in France. Hermes claims that it's made by a single artisan for many, many hours. So there is that whole, you know, high quality craftsmanship aspect. But I think as with many luxury items, so much of this is image and allure, which is not necessarily a material focused question. So Jane Bur Birkin was a muse of the 80s. She is a British actress who, you know, maybe like nowadays we have a lot of them, we have a lot more of them, we have a lot of influencers who, you know, people might buy rare beauty products because they want to feel like they're closer to Selena Gomez. So I think naming the bag after Jane Birkin made a lot of sense at the time, but it's carried that allure until today. And a big reason for that is because Hermes is very, very good. They're really the geniuses behind engineering scarcity. So they could make more of these bags, right, Sheena? They could, but they don't because they want to keep the supply low to make it harder to get. And that just automatically in the luxury world makes something more interesting, exciting, rare, more coveted.

[Sheena Butler Young]

For sure.

[Simone Stern]

Absolutely.

[Sheena Butler Young]

And there are more recent examples of, of bags that could be on this trajectory. Right. So there's. You mentioned the article Phoebe Filo's wing shaped Celine bag and Elias Tech last year. These are the recent wave makers in the space. What made those bags so unique and why are they resonating so strongly?

[Simone Stern]

So in the 2010s, Selene's wing shaped bag really refreshed that classic top handle silhouette in a way that was, you know, fun and cute, but not too crazy. Basically, Phoebe Filo added kind of these wing shapes to the side of some of her bag designs. And that made the bag on the one hand more practical because you could expand it, but at the same time it gave that classic square or rectangular top handle shape a little bit of an innovative twist. And then when it comes to Alaia nowadays, it's really interesting because Alaia was known also, you know, in the 80s in its golden era, as this ultra feminine brand. And it wasn't actually primarily known for leather goods at all. It was known for these very clingy, sultry dresses. I think Azzedine Alaya was called the king of cling. So more recently, the brand went quieter, but it's made a big comeback since Peter Moulier took over the creative direction in 2020. You know, even though a brand might be successful on the Runway or it's more couture, nowadays, the commercial success is so important. And one of the easiest, easiest if done right. One of the best ways to do that is to make a standout success in the handbag space. And that's exactly what the Teckle did. So the Teckle is shaped and named after the wiener dog. Very cute. But, you know, it's not so obvious. It's not too literal. It's just a nice elongated shape, and it really speaks to this ultra feminine, very ladylike silhouette that speaks to a lot of consumers.

[Sheena Butler Young]

Again, nowadays, I want to talk about prices. I want to back up a little bit. So we're talking about the Hermes, which can be like 10,000 to $50,000. Where does the Alaiah Teel sit in this? And some of the other brands that have had recent successes? How much do these bags actually cost?

[Simone Stern]

So the Alaia Te is definitely more accessible than the Hermes Birkin. Another thing that obviously makes the Birkin very hard to get, aside from the scarcity, is that it is so expensive, even on the resale market. Now, the Alaia Tecl is not that expensive. It's in a few thousand, depending on the material. It's somewhere between one and a half to $3,000, depending on also where your market is, what currency, etc. But so it is pretty accessible. It's also a smaller bag. So I think the price is elevated for the size of the bag and the amount of leather that's used. But a lot of comments have come in saying that the craftsmanship is really stellar. The handles are beautifully shaped, so the bag apparently does really hold its value. And you can see that on the resale market too. Actually, the Alaia Tecl is still pretty rare on secondhand platforms, which means that people are not really flipping this bag that much. They're holding onto it. But also, when it does show up on Vestiere or the Realreal, it's listed at a price that's pretty close to primary retail, which would be more in line with what the Hermes Birkin does. Although the Birkin often sells for more than it would in retail because of.

[Sheena Butler Young]

Its scarcity or if you can get on a wait list for it. Right. Is it for many years. For many years of a wait list. The other factor, I would imagine, that makes a handbag so central to the success of its, the brand owner, is that it can probably appeal to the aspirational shopper like it's like a gateway drug. Maybe I don't want to invest in a T shirt or a pair of jeans that came down the Runway, but if I invest in a handbag, I don't have to be uber wealthy to do that. I can kind of enter the category with this investment piece. Like you said, $1500, maybe $2000. Talk to me about the aspirational shopper and it' ability to bring handbags into the fold as a revenue driver for a brand.

[Simone Stern]

Absolutely. So the aspirational shopper is probably going to want an item if they decide to invest in luxury that is recognizably a luxury item. So a lot of people might not recognize, you know, whether a pair of jeans is from Bottega or is from maybe, you know, a high street brand, but they will recognize whether a bag is a Louis Vuitton bag or from a high street brand. Right. So I think a lot of aspirational shoppers, as opposed to the whole quiet luxury, old money thing, they want to actually show, yes, I could afford this designer bag. So I think this is something that a lot of brands, again, it depends on the brand. They will want to tap into this. Now, again, an Hermes is not going to tap into this because an aspirational shopper will probably not be able to or maybe even want to necessarily afford the Birkin. But at the same time, you have a lot of brands that offer a range of prices. So if you look at Louis Vuitton, yes, they offer bags that are in the double digit, low, double digit, thousands as well. But generally speaking, we're talking, you know, 1500 to maybe $5,000 more or less for a lot of these brands. And that is definitely something that a aspirational customer will save up for. You know, they might not buy one every month, but they're going to maybe.

[Sheena Butler Young]

Buy one once a year, maybe once a quarter. I can make a quarterly investment of fifteen hundred dollars.

[Simone Stern]

Probably depends on, you know, how aspirational you are. You know, where on the aspirational scale do you lie? But I think that a lot of people will save up for a bag. And it is a fantastic way for brands to then Catch customers. It sounds like a Pokemon, but they really are able to then just get the customers in the door. And then if the customer really likes the bag, and if they get maybe compliments on it and they feel good about wearing it, then they might be more inclined to later make other purchases.

[Sheena Butler Young]

Absolutely. And what about the signature shape thing? I feel like a brands are playing with this a lot more in the last couple of years, having a go to shape like the Techle. Why is that so powerful? And are there other ways that brands can innovate or is that sort of the. The main way to do it?

[Simone Stern]

I think for handbags, the shape is the basis of everything. So it might sound like a strange comparison, but think of cars for a second. If you think of a Ferrari Testarossa or a Volkswagen Beetle, you recognize it first and foremost because of its unique shape. The color then adds variety. And that's what the Teckle is also doing very well. They're adding different textures, different leathers, grain, smooth calfskin. I think there's a cow print techle out. So they add different colors, patterns and materials. That adds variation. But the shape is really the baseline to make a bag innovative.

[Sheena Butler Young]

And your article also talks about this idea that for a brand to be successful in its in the handbag space, it has to continue to innovate. But you make the distinction between that and then innovation for innovation's sake. Can you talk us through what's different about powerful statement making, innovation and then just brands throwing mud at the wall and seeing what would stick?

[Simone Stern]

Yeah, there's a lot of pressure nowadays also thanks to social media, to constantly innovate on the brand side and also for consumers to constantly have new outfits, new fits. So, you know, brands really feel that pressure and they want to continue to also engage clients so that they can drive their sales and their growth. Innovation for innovation's sake doesn't work because the brand really needs to innovate in a way that still resonates with the overall brand identity. So the Teckle works so well because it embodies that very ladylike, ultra feminine silhouette that the brand has been known for since the day it was founded. The same way we can maybe look at Giacomo's Chiquito micro bag. So Jacquemus is known for being very playful, kind of cutesy, and that's why it works. Now, how would you feel if Dior brought out a Chiquito bag? Would it have worked? I don't know, but it might have felt a bit more jarring to the customer or Especially the brand fans like, oh, this doesn't really fit with the overall aesthetic or the overall vibe. And to have a recognizable aesthetic throughout different categories is so important nowadays.

[Sheena Butler Young]

Absolutely. So it's knowing who you are as a brand before you start to innovate. Not just innovating because you need to come up with something new every season, have a new color, be on social media, be the outfit of the day. It has to come from your core.

[Simone Stern]

Absolutely, I think so. I think the only exception could be maybe a one hit wonder where you come up with something that is not really, you know, in your normal brand repertoire and it somehow has success. But I just think doubt the longevity of that and I doubt how that might elevate the brand's overall image as opposed to just driving some quick sales.

[Sheena Butler Young]

Absolutely. And so creating a standout handbag is one thing. Right. Keeping it desirable is another. You don't really want a one hit wonder, I guess comparing that to not having a hit at all, you know, but you want it to be, you want to keep it going. Handbags are also particularly vulnerable to copycats. Right. So you mentioned the Jackamoose micro bag. That one was a real big victim of copycatting. Why are handbags so vulnerable to being knocked off?

[Simone Stern]

It's actually pretty simple. If a bag is successful, others will want to copy it. And now leather or leather imitation materials are readily available all over the place. Again, not saying the high quality leather or the craftsmanship is readily available, but you can make something similar pretty quickly. You can make it out of polyurethane, you can make it out of vegan leathers that are made out of all types of vegetables. It's not that hard to source similar materials and to make a similar shape. And of course, because now we know, thanks to this podcast or the article that handbags are such big sales drivers, a lot of brands are gonna, you know, are not even bag focused brands, but even a lot of fast fashion companies might see, wow, this bag shape is doing so well. People love to buy bags. It's kind of the shape of the moment. Everyone's gonna want it. Let's make the same version for, I don't know, a tenth of the price or even less. And then people who can't afford to be in the luxury category or aspirational customers will buy it from us instead.

[Sheena Butler Young]

Absolutely. In this way, they're a victim of the very thing them successful. Right. Like they stand out so much. We'll be back with more of the debrief right after this.

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[Sheena Butler Young]

How quickly can a bag be knocked off? You mentioned that you can replicate leather or the materials quite easily. How quickly does this happen? So if you come out with Jacquemus Micro bag and it's it's all over social media or your celebrities are wearing it on a red carpet, how quickly can a copycat be created?

[Simone Stern]

So it depends on the company, but if you're a fast fashion company, then you're probably trained to do exactly, exactly this, right? So we have seen or how many of us in the fashion space have seen a Runway show and then miraculously, a month later or even two weeks later at a fast fashion store, we'll see a very, very strangely similar item appear on the rack, right? So they're trained to do this at the same time. I think for you know, designer brands or luxury brands, they need to be a little bit more careful when they copy designs because a lot of this also can have a huge effect on their reputation. We might expect it from fast fashion brands. We don't expect luxury brands to do very obvious copies. So they need to be a little bit more careful there.

[Sheena Butler Young]

What about contemporary brands? Like I imagine that the Birkins, although Walmart put this theory that I'm about to mention to the test. But I would imagine that the Birkin customer is not the Walmart online shopper. But if you're contemporary, we've seen this with like the Rose very popular bag. But you can probably approach that a little bit different. You can probably give a hundred and $150 version. And by the way, you know, we're in this world, Simone. But I don't know if the average shopper really knows when they're even buying a knockoff. Like my mom would just say this is a nice bag that happens to shape like a dog that I like. I don't know that every shopper knows that. What about a contemporary brand? Can they do this and get away with it?

[Simone Stern]

Yes and no. And I think the, the Workin or the Walmart Birkin is such a great example because they are so diametrically different Walmart and Hermes companies. Right. So in a way maybe Hermes didn't even feel as challenged by the work in because they were like, okay, we're in such different spaces, our consumers are never going to overlap and so we're going to just give you the, the benefit of the doubt or just turn, turn you know, a blind eye to.

[Sheena Butler Young]

This one so they can turn a blind eye and then it might be worth your while if it's a contemporary brand that's like in a Sax or like in a Harrods, like you might want to take them down.

[Simone Stern]

Yeah, yeah. I think a big reason why there is so much space for a Walmart to copy a bag like the Birkin, which would have been unthinkable like if Dior copied the Birkin in a very obvious way, that would be crazy. But the reason that a Walmart can do it is one, like we said before, because the consumer bases don't really overlap but also because there is actually shockingly little legal protection when it comes to copying. So it is. I spoke to a lawyer here who told me that it is so difficult to patent a design. You have to prove that you're the first one to ever come up with it and try proving that you have to Also then prove that the copy is not actually just a strange coincidence and actually a copy. So the burden of proof is on the company or the brand claiming that their design was copied. And this is why a lot of fast fashion companies can do what they're doing without actually getting into legal trouble. They also have a great legal team, I think, that just protects them from.

[Sheena Butler Young]

They sit locked and loaded for every time that bag drops. They're just ready to go. Yep, exactly. There's also value to imitation, right? There are cases when imitation signals success. And then there are cases, though, when imitation signals a decline or that you're so I think the word is overexposure, or we call it omnipresent a lot on the this podcast. But it can be a good thing. In the case of Alaia, I think you said in your article it was a good thing. It signaled that it had found a sweet spot in the handbag category. Other cases, it doesn't talk to us about the difference and how do you know as a brand?

[Simone Stern]

So I think there's a lot of varying opinions here. Like you said before, imitation can be a good thing. I think Oscar Wilde said imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. And I do think that is true to a certain extent also in the fashion space. At the same time, I had the fortune of speaking to freelance handbag designer Mark Valianu, who designs for brands like Cloe and La Mer. And he said that once a bag gets copied, it's already over, which is why constant innovation is so important. And so I think that it's really a timing question for a lot of these bags. So maybe you need to ride that wave as long as you can. And if you're getting copied, you need to then quickly innovate with, with things like color, pattern, you know, then you need to try to keep it going, but your time is probably cut relatively short. And then you need to come up with the next big shape. So a lot of pressure there.

[Sheena Butler Young]

I think the brands can handle it. I'm not worried about the European fashion houses falling behind the the ball here. But the overexposure thing is also interesting because Dior's book Tote is a good example of this, I think, in my humble opinion. I remember when it launched, it had hit that, you know, elusive sweet spot and it became the bag to have. I remember all the influencers, the fashion influencers, their vacation photo on a yacht and that bag in the background or at Fashion Week. But it almost very quickly became so ever present that wasn't feeling like a good thing. And I know you came upon this with your article. There were comments mentioning that Dior's bag should not have been mentioned in your article as an example of handbag innovation because it became a little cringe to some people.

[Simone Stern]

Yeah, Sheena, we got so much hate on Instagram for including the book Tote in the article and also as one example, on the Instagram slides. But I just want to stress, yeah, the book Tote came out in 2018, so we're not saying it's innovative now in 2025. The point is that at that moment, like you just said, everyone and their mom literally wanted the book Tote because it was just such a practical bag. It was a designer bag, but it was kind of soft, but still sort of structured. You could use it for work, for travel. You could write your name on it. How cute is that? So it really just had this moment, and I think there is just a level of visual fatigue when you see a bag that is very obvious bag. Like, everyone can recognize that you are booktoed when you see that over and over again. I think some people just get tired of it. But honestly, it was a huge success for Maria Grazia and Dior. And. And, you know, unless you can create that fake scarcity that brands like Hermes create with their Kelly's and their Birkins, then you almost can't avoid overexposure.

[Sheena Butler Young]

Well, do you think there'll be a time maybe like 20 years from now that you can kind of prop that in back of your Instagram? Well, if Instagram's still around, but, like, you put it in the background, it's cool again, because I think we're in a period where I don't see people doing that because it's not cool right now. Does it come back around? Is it going to be vintage?

[Simone Stern]

Absolutely. And, I mean, you see that all the time. A lot of the really successful bags, like, also staying on, on Dior, the Dior saddle bag was launched. I don't remember the exact decade, but definitely way before Maria Grazia's time. And then she brought that back, and I think it was also around 2018. She really brought that back again. And so, yes, it absolutely works for bags to come back. You know, it's like the 70s are in again. Although the 70s are always kind of in over and over again. But, you know, I think absolutely, these bags, you know, if you have a book tote and you're tired of it, you can sell it if you want, but you don't necessarily have to just wait and see. If you feel kind of attached to it, it might just come back.

[Sheena Butler Young]

And I do want to back this up with some numbers. You just mentioned Dior, and I was a little tough on Dior with the book tote bag. Their sales tripled in four years after they revamped the handbag program. So I want to take it back to the beginning where we said this can be your staple category to drive revenue growth. Are there any other examples of how the handbag has, has, you know, catapulted a brand or a fashion house back into the conversation?

[Simone Stern]

Absolutely. Let's just keep going with Alaia while we're at it. So Swiss luxury conglomerate Richemont acquired a stake in Alaia in 2007. And like we said before, also Peter Mulia since 2021 has really just brought the aesthetic back on point. So thanks to the techl's performance last year, Alaia was able to offset the really not so great performance of Richemont's other fashion brands. So that says a lot, right? That one bag was able to do so much, not just for the brand, but for the larger company that that brand sits under. And that just says so much about the impact that a single wiener dog shaped bag can potentially have. So, you know, a lot of brands won't really talk about how much a specific bag makes of their sales unless it's a huge success, like at Dior. Right. Then they, of course, maybe might want to, you know, share how great that did. But I think that, you know, on a softer note, you can see that brands like La Mer, they're sort of in the accessible, luxury, kind of cool, innovative category. They have very minimal ready to wear collections. They're very, you know, nice, high quality basics. But their bags are quite unique and they really contrast that minimalist aesthetic of their ready to wear. And during Paris Fashion Week, they opened a exhibition with a Chilean sculptor artist. He, I think his name is Carlos Penafiel. And the exhibition was called Wearable Sculptures. But it wasn't actually sculptures. It was their bags shaped like eggs, like scallops, like croissants that were on display at this exhibition. So that really shows that they're pushing the narrative how important the bags are for this brand as a whole, even if they're not a bag first brand necessarily.

[Sheena Butler Young]

I love that. That feels like a nice note to sort of tie things up. But I do have one more question. If you had to drill down your best piece of advice because, you know, handbag fatigue is real. We've had this is ebbed and flowed. It's like footwear fatigue happens too with people. Invest in changes over time. Your best advice for brands in terms of approaching innovation in the handbag space, but also warding off handbag fatigue, if that's possible for brands.

[Simone Stern]

I think empower your creative design teams and give new voices a chance. You know, if you want to stay innovative, if you want to be part of the conversation nowadays, then don't be afraid to try new things. And I think that's, in my opinion, one of the reasons why Chanel has brought Mathieu Blasi over from Bottega, where he did an amazing job, especially with the handbags, but also with the whole collection. But maybe they realized, okay, you know, yes, we have our classics, you know, they're doing well. But also maybe not so much because we've inflated prices so much. So maybe to engage customers, we need to bring in a fresh perspective that can elevate and create some excitement for our products or even maybe launch a completely new product in the handbag space. And I think, you know, this looks different for every brand. I think, honestly, Hermes doesn't need to worry so much about innovation, but they're kind of a unique case in the luxury space. Others, the more aspirational customer luxury brands, like maybe Gucci or Dior, although of course they're not just for aspirational customers, but they really need to blend heritage with a modern twist. Right. So they do best when they ride on what made this brand unique in the first place when it was founded. But they need to also keep it relevant for what consumers want nowadays. And then you get completely new, innovative things happening. And that can revive brands like Jonathan Anderson did at Loewe when he launched the puzzle bag. I think that was the first bag he launched in 2014. It just catapulted him as a designer and also Loewe into a completely new stratosphere. And like I mentioned before, Mathieu Blasi was able to do that at Bottegao, staying true to the brand's signature Intrecciato, that woven leather. He really managed to stay true to that, but at the same time, constantly came up with these new shapes. With the sardine back being my personal.

[Sheena Butler Young]

Favorite, I don't know, I couldn't get with it.

[Simone Stern]

All right, you know, well, that's the beautiful thing. There's.

[Sheena Butler Young]

There's everyone.

[Simone Stern]

Exactly. So you might not want a oily fish top handle on a bag, and I might totally want that. So who would have thought that that was something that appealed to consumers. But the beautiful thing is there's variety for everybody. And I think brands just need to authentically strike the chord with their loyal consumer base because loyalty is so important nowadays and handbags are a way to do it.

[Sheena Butler Young]

Awesome. I think we can end it there. Simone, this was so interesting and insightful. Thank you so much for being back on the debrief.

[Simone Stern]

Thank you so much, Sheena.

[Sheena Butler Young]

Please be sure to check out Simone's article. In a market of copycats, handbag innovators stand [e-mail] this and other stories are available to BOF Professional subscribers only and you can find the links in the episode notes you've been listening to the Debrief, produced and edited by Olivia Davies and Eric Brea. I'm Sheena Butler Young. We'll be back next week with a new episode. Thanks so much for joining us and be sure to follow us wherever you get your podcasts.

[Simone Stern]

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