Luxury bag brands implement more rules than ever before to keep their products exclusive – from Chanel rationing its most popular handbag styles to Hermès introducing a loyalty points system
- Chanel is rationing its bags in a bid to keep ultra-wealthy clients interested
- Hermès consumers must shop their other lines too – from clothing to furniture
- Program notes purchases across all stores, with their Hermès points determining how quickly they will be able to nab themselves a Birkin bag
Luxury handbag brands are implementing more rules and rationing than ever before to keep ultra-wealthy clients interested – from Chanel limiting the purchases of their most popular styles to Hermès introducing a point system.
Chanel’s iconic quilted bags – loved by celebrities and royalty alike – have tripled this year alone, with the price increasing in cost by a whopping 15 percent.
Fighting back from the pandemic in style, the French fashion house’s revenues have slowly continued to increase following its 18 per cent drop last year – with them doubling figures in the last nine months.
Now, the luxury brand has put a new policy in place that allows customers to buy only one of each of its most in-demand handbag styles – the Classic Flap Bag and Coco Handle – per year.
‘Some of our products are particularly sought out by our clients. In order to satisfy them adequately, we can take appropriate actions at a local level,’ a spokesperson from Chanel said, speaking to The Telegraph.
Chanel is rationing its bags in a bid to keep ultra-wealthy clients interested. Pictured, stock image
The luxury brand is seemingly responding to the recent success of the vintage market, which has been cashing in on the increasing value of its most exclusive bags over the course of time.
On the second-hand resale site Vestiaire Collectived, The Classic Flap Bag can cost anywhere up to £28,000, while a small Chanel Classic retails at £5,410.
When it comes to Hermès Birkin bags, Kate Moss has one in denim, Kelly Osbourne has one in classic black, and Victoria Beckham, of course, has one in every colour of the rainbow.
Elle Macpherson, Lindsay Lohan, Sarah Jessica Parker and Naomi Campbell are A-list fans, too. Even Coleen Rooney has one in tan.
Heidi Klum out and about in Los Angeles, California on 29 March 2021 (pictured left) with her Birkin bag and right, Tamara Ecclestone at Heathrow Airport, London on 26 April 2012
But following its popularity, Hermès made sure their Birkin bag, which starts at £7,030 and goes up to around £200,000, stayed a request of the ultra-rich by making it almost impossibly exclusive – with customers having to join a waiting list of at least two years.
In 2004, a vintage black, crocodile-skin Birkin featuring 14 carats of diamond pavé set in a white gold buckle fetched £32,706 at auction in New York.
However now, shoppers are only able to purchase one of the Birkin bags after proving their loyalty to the brand and shopping their other lines too – from clothing, furniture, equestrian, watches and jewellery.
The new system involves a program which notes the customer’s purchases across all of its stores, with their Hermès points determining how quickly they will be able to nab themselves a Birkin.
Elsewhere, Gucci has implemented a different strategy which has seen them open a pop-up on Shoreditch’s Chance Street, allowing the public the opportunity to purchase limited edition pieces made specifically for selected stores.
The high-end fashion brand recreated 5,000 miniscule Seville by Gucci Cadillacs in collaboration with Hot Wheels, and it seems their ploy is working because they have all sold out.
And when it comes to designer suits, Savile Row have limited the amount of bespoke suits each tailor is able to make.
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