Top 10 Most Investable Handbags

The Hermès Birkin is considered the Holy Grail of the bag world due to its exceptional materials, rarity and exclusivity. The purchasing process at Hermès stores is notoriously difficult, something that surely increases the second market appeal for buyers. Like all Hermès bags, Birkins are made from start to finish by a single artisan, who trained for more than 5 years to create it. It takes a minimum of 18 hours to finish a single Birkin bag.

Since the beginning, the Birkin bag has been tied to ideals of celebrity – the bag was first idealised in 1984 by British actress Jane Birkin and Jean-Louis Dumas, Executive Chairman of Hermès. It entered pop culture relatively quickly, having been mentioned in Sex and the City more than once. Many celebrities have vast collections of this bag, including Victoria Beckham (who is rumoured to have hundreds of them), Kate Moss and Chiara Ferragni.

The Birkin’s pop culture impact is undeniable, and their resale value varies greatly depending on the style or type of leather and hardware of that specific item. However, in most cases, these bags sell for several times their original retail price in-store.

Chanel is a fashion house that has immediate associations with sophistication, luxury and refinement. Their Classic Flap Bags are a trademark of the brand, and never date or age, having come to exemplify timeless elegance. These bags are instantly recognisable due to their implementation of Chanel’s signature quilted motif, interlocking CC hardware and chain strap. They have an intricate creation process, and come in many different colours and styles, offering great variety for the customer.

The brand usually hikes their prices twice a year, an attempt to increase brand exclusivity. The increasing figures from the official Chanel stores makes the second hand market an attractive one for buyers looking to achieve the brand’s signature aesthetic. In the past year, apart from increasing their prices, Chanel has also taken lessons from Hermès and complicated the purchasing process of the bags. Whereas you could previously walk into one of their boutiques and acquire a Flap Bag, customers are now only allowed to buy one a year.

These policies around protecting item rarity are promising for the resell value in the second market.

While it may not be as famous by name as its brand-mate, the Kelly is equally impactful in the world of luxury investment bags. It predates the Birkin, having first been designed in the 1930s, and is considered by many to be the classic Hermès bag. In fact, the most expensive handbag ever sold at auction happened in 2022, when Sotheby’s offered a Himalayan Kelly 25 for over £290,000. The bag comes in two styles and eight different sizes, offering great variety even before mentioning the assortment of hides and colours used by the brand.

The bag’s larger association with pop culture and fashion history came through Grace Kelly (later Princess of Monaco), who was a big fan of the design. She famously used the bag to conceal her pregnancy from photographers and leave Hollywood in 1956, after first having been introduced to the style in 1952. The bag was renamed in her honour in 1977, and has remained a coveted status symbol ever since.

They have one of the most recognisable aesthetics in the market, and a strong reputation for the exquisite quality of their bags. As such, it is not a surprise that Louis Vuitton bags hold their value extremely well. However, some designs appeal more to buyers, notably the Métis, Pochette and limited-edition Speedys in patterns such as cérise and multicolour  – the latter thanks to the brand’s collaboration with Takashi Murakami. These models, according to Nicola Ghin, authentication manager and resident designer handbag expert at The Luxury Closet, are constantly in demand and sellers can expect to earn between 20 and 50% more than its original price. Resale platform Open For Vintage has revealed that sales of Louis Vuitton handbags made up a whopping 35% of its total sales in 2020.

As we have seen, celebrity endorsement can mean everything in terms of cementing the timelessness of a brand. Throughout 20th century fashion, few endorsements are more stellar than that of Diana, Princess of Wales. Therefore, it is no surprise that Dior’s Lady Dior bag (affectionately called Lady D by its fans due to its association with Diana) has remained popular throughout the last decades. Diana first received the bag as a gift from France’s former First Lady Bernadette Chirac while on a trip to Paris in 1995. The top-handle bag is quilted in the style of the cannage stitching pattern of Christian Dior’s antique Napoleon III chairs, with the logo spelt out in pendant charms. It instantly became the Princess’ favourite, so much so she wore it day and night.

The bag’s quality is undeniable; it is made from 144 parts at Dior’s ateliers in Florence, and the hardware alone is constructed from 43 metal parts – from charms to feet and eyelets. It has had many iterations, with different fabrics, hides and colours. While Dior handbags don’t tend to appreciate quite as much as those by Chanel, Hermès and Louis Vuitton, the iconic design and practicality of the Lady Dior makes it a worthwhile investment.

The style of the early 2000s has come back strongly in recent years, as evidenced by the many reissues Prada has done in past collections. The best example of this is the re-imagining of their iconic 2000-2005 Nylon bags, which were fashionable then as now. The brand has also catered to a more eco-conscious clientele by using their sustainable textile Re-Nylon, a regenerated-nylon yarn that can be recycled an indefinite number of times without affecting its quality and is made by recycling discarded plastic collected from landfill sites and oceans across the world. Since its reissue, the bag has been worn and coveted by celebrities, bloggers and fashion enthusiasts everywhere.

According to Vestiaire Collective, the Prada Nylon bag has seen a sales increase of 150% year-on-year. With the style being re-released by the brand in a variety of vibrant shades and finishes, you can easily find one that best expresses your personal style. That, alongside the durability of its materials, makes it a worthwhile investment.

This handbag is a reissue of the brand’s 1970s style, comes in three different sizes and in leather, suede or ostrich. It can be used as a messenger bag or on the shoulder, offering practicality to buyers. In order to modernise it, the Italian fashion house updated the bag with a softer construction and its signature G-shaped clasp.

Since its release in Spring 2022, the handbag has been sported by celebrities such as Olivia Wilde, Jodie Turner-Smith and Jennifer Lopez. The bag’s half-moon shape has been trending in recent years, with Kelly McSweeney, The RealReal’s Senior Merchandising Manager saying: “Looking at the second half of 2021 versus the same 2022 time period, we saw a 67% uptick in demand for the shape. We’re seeing strong demand for Gucci’s re-issued Attaché.”

Other vintage-inspired models by the brand, including the Horsebit and the Jackie, have also been trending on the primary and secondary markets. The platform Open For Vintage says this is especially true for the latter.

Few handbags hold an impact on millennial pop culture as much as Carrie Bradshaw’s beloved Fendi Baguette. Launched in 1997, the original style sold 100,000 units in its debut year alone. For nearly a quarter of a century, the Italian fashion house carried the Baguette, before taking a brief hiatus and reintroducing the design with Sarah Jessica Parker herself.

Fendi's strategy of releasing new versions of the design for each year of its reign, featuring limited-edition embroidered denim and patchwork satin variations, cemented the bag’s status as a collector’s item. Their distinct aspects and collaboration with other iconic designers make for a great example of a bag that is easily placed within fashion history and will grow in value with time. Its original price ranged from £780-£1200, and Baguettes today range between £2300-£2960. According to The RealReal, the popularity and demand show no signs of slowing down, with the search rate continuing to rise.

According to The RealReal, this is a standout bag that has made a swift and steady rise in resale value over the last five years. The Telfar Shopping Bag is almost always sold out, and is made of 100% vegan leather. Since its creation in 2014, it has been worn by celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Selena Gomez and Beyoncé. The bag is incredibly versatile, since it can be worn in formal and informal settings, and comes in a variety of sizes and colours.

Despite its celebrity clientele, it is relatively affordable when compared to most investment handbags, with its original retail price falling somewhere between £120-£200. However, in resale websites the brand can often be seen fetching well upwards of £250, demonstrating its potential for investment. This notoriously hard-to-find bag is a perfect example of a limited quantity, collectible piece that retains and even appreciates in value in the second hand market. It has an average value retention of 195%.

Although it is a more recent release, this bag is yet another example of vintage aesthetics coming back in recent years and making an impact on the secondary market. This classic-looking Saint Laurent bag is inspired by the 1962 French New Wave film Cléo from 5 to 7, which is famous for its representation of ‘60s Parisian fashion. The film’s influence can be seen in the design's clean lines, classic clasp and under-the-shoulder fit. It comes in several limited-edition variations, including python and calfskin, making it a true collectible and increasing its value as an investment.

The bag’s timeless design, alongside the well-known craftsmanship of the Saint Laurent brand means that it is likely to keep appreciating over time.