Remember when handbags were the best collectible luxury investment? Better than gold, appreciating more than the stock market. At least according to the Knight Frank Luxury Investment Index (KFLII), which measures asset performance (capital value appreciation). Handbags, particularly Hermès bags, have topped the KFLII since 2019, when they were added to the list as an investment category. Even as the overall luxury index fell in late 2024, handbags sat at the top of the KFLII list.
But not this year. The latest KFLII assessment drops our favorite accessory squarely into the middle of the pack, at number 7 out of 15, sitting behind several categories of art and watches. Value over the last twelve months is nearly flat, down two-tenths of a point.
Image courtesy knightfrank.com
In its 2026 Wealth Report, KFLII posits that while Hermès Birkins and Kellys retain pricing power, real demand right now is for “beater Birkins” — visibly used and worn versions of these handbags, evoking the battered workhorse aesthetic of Jane Birkin. Driving this shift are younger buyers looking for relative authenticity and accessibility, rather than the ever-increasing five-digit range of Hermès retail pricing.
Image courtesy: @rubybyann
Currently, a boutique-purchased Birkin 25 in Togo leather is $13,500. In 2019, when the KFLII added bags to its luxury list, the price was just shy of the five-figure mark at $9,850. Since then, the price has risen 37%, much of which has occurred since 2023. Add to that the difficulty (and for some, impossibility) of buying the desired bag — in size, leather, color, hardware preference — and shoppers are turning to the secondary market.
Though prices remain high for newer, perfect condition models, the secondary market offers another entry point: the worn, loved, well-traveled bag. It’s a look that traces back to Jane Birkin herself — the actress and style icon for whom the bag was named — who famously stuffed and battered her own, treating it as an everyday workhorse rather than a precious object. That aesthetic now has a name: the beater Birkin, available in the $6,000–9,000 range. The look without the price tag — and, for those who know the history, something closer to the original spirit of the bag. Jane Birkin’s own, which hit the auction block in 2025, sold for $10.1 million.
How are you feeling about your bag collection as an investment? Worried about value, or just enjoying? Let us know.
Love, PurseBop
XO
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