Hot Takes #12: Beat-Up Handbags Are The Vibe
High-low style stakes and accessible luxury take over the handbag scene
Hot Takes is my bullet point thoughts on fashion's hottest issues. These posts get to the heart of why people are talking about what they’re talking about, what this means and where this could go next.
Think: what direction is fashion heading in? What’s new, innovative and exciting? What's going on in fashion that's really pissing people off?
Hot Takes ties fashion topics to a wider cultural and social context, and digs into why these topics are important and the often more significant meanings behind them.
So sit back, relax and let's get into it. Here’s Hot Takes #12.
Let’s set the scene.
Who would have thought that in 2023 people would be trading down luxury items? Yes, you read that right. This year fashion connoisseurs are swapping just off-the-shelf high price tag handbags for styles that look a little worse for wear. Since the dawn of the fashion ages, it was an unspoken rule that luxury handbags were meant to be kept pristine so that they could hold their value in the years to come. But in 2023 we’ve witnessed a complete U-turn as the reign of beat-up handbags takes over — this wasn’t on my bingo card for this year.
About a decade ago, the actress turned designer and half of the brains behind the mega luxury brand The Row, Mary-Kate Olsen sent shockwaves through the industry when she dared to sport a worn-out Hermès Kelly handbag in public. Since this initial outing, she's worn said handbag multiple times including an appearance at the CFDA Awards. Not to miss out on the trend of the moment, fashion fan fave Julia Fox has taken to TikTok to show off her own Birkin’s signs of wear and tear. Beat-up luxury handbags are now a surefire vibe.
High-low style stakes
Dress codes are out. The pandemic ushered in an era of collectively casual wardrobes, and with this shift traditional dress codes were rendered all but obsolete. A couple of years down the line we’re now experiencing a novel approach to getting dressed, one where mixing high-end luxury items with lowkey staples is the way to go.
Gen Zers have got to be given credit for this change in pace. Younger shoppers don’t have as much stigma around wearing beat-up-looking handbags, and with this, they’re bringing high-low style to the masses. Alex Pardoe of the TikTok account @birkintrash is one such figure who’s made a name for himself by not only documenting his own highly coveted Hermès collection, but also letting his followers know the juicy details of his high-low Birkins that he’s scored at a reduced price.
Accessible luxury
For years, luxury resale platforms have positioned themselves as a way for people who covet brands like Chanel, Hermès and Louis Vuitton to buy into the high-end market minus the high price tag. Beat-up handbags can be viewed as an entryway into the world of luxury as ‘lived-in chic’ becomes more accessible, more affordable, and an everyday luxury alternative to five and six-figure new bag releases.
These bags have clout because they don’t put on air and graces. The less picture-perfect these handbags look, the better. This worn-in effect can be attributed in part to the pushback against the aesthetically rigid world of Instagram and reality TV, where everything is so hyper-stylised and curated it needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. Life is messy and bags are supposed to be used. So if your bag is dented, if it looks worn, if it has a few scratches and is beaten up that's more than okay. It’s the moment.
My two cents.
According to luxury big hitter Vestiaire Collective, sales of items in its lowest-quality categories such as “good” or “fair” condition were up by 13% in the six months leading to May 2023 — this can cover anything from snags, stains and loose threads to frayed edges and discolouration. And an insights report released by The RealReal back in January stated that demand for items in a “fair condition” had doubled in the past year due to them being 33% more affordable than items in a better condition.
With a cost of living crisis, ongoing permacrisis and global instability, is it any wonder people are turning to beat-up luxury to get as much bang for their buck as possible? But this is about more than just the money factor. Wear and tear is a result of a handbag being used for its intended purpose, and people no longer have a snobbish attitude when flaunting their designer bags. The insatiable appetite for beat-up handbags shows no signs of slowing just yet and this is the new pinnacle of luxury.
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