Women of the world, prepare to swoon! Feast your eyes on some of the 200 most lust-inducing bags in the world — all sold yesterday at the fashion auction of the year.
A word of warning, though. This arm candy might not be quite within your budget, unless you have the equivalent of the price of a house deposit to blow.
That’s because yesterday, there was a sale of rare handbags by British auction house Christie’s in Paris — and most went for record prices, proof that handbags are the hot new investment of the moment.
Earlier this year, a white crocodile-skin Hermes Birkin handbag encrusted with diamonds sold in Hong Kong for a record-breaking £293,000. Jane Birkin is pictured with her eponymous handbag
From the vintage crocodile Hermes bags — all of which fetched tens of thousands, thanks to the fact they’re almost impossible to get hold of — to gorgeous Chanel clutches, there were styles to please quite literally every woman.
The star was a yellow Hermes Mini Kelly bag in Courchevel leather, made in 1991 and once owned by Elizabeth Taylor, which drew gasps when it sold for £35,280.
As Christie’s is better known for brokering priceless works of art, you may wonder how bags came to be such valuable currency. How can a much-used bag, even if it’s been well-maintained and doesn’t have too many lipstick and Biro marks on the lining, cost more today than when it was first purchased?
And more importantly, is this finally the justification that any woman needs every time her other half looks accusingly at her new handbag purchase?
The answer is that rare designer bags have never been so in demand by the super-rich. Earlier this year, a white crocodile-skin Hermes Birkin handbag encrusted with diamonds sold in Hong Kong for a record-breaking £293,000.
Given the instability of the property market and the current global outlook, investors are keen to put their cash somewhere safe.
Bags are the latest asset that won’t drop in value. It has been estimated that some rare bags, including certain Chanel models, can increase in value between 8 and 12 per cent per annum.
These handbags are status symbol and investment rolled into one irresistible package.
Not just any handbag maker will do, though, when it comes to getting back more at the point of reselling than you originally paid.
While ‘It’ bags from the likes of Gucci, Mulberry, Fendi and Yves Saint Laurent could set you back a couple of thousand pounds, these aren’t (currently) the names that will have great resale value.
How can a much-used bag, even if it’s been well-maintained and doesn’t have too many lipstick and Biro marks on the lining, cost more today than when it was first purchased? Grace Kelly is pictured with her eponymous handbag
For the canny collector, there’s only a tiny coterie of haute handbag makers worth forking out for if profit is your ultimate aim. But reselling is always a gamble, as even some of these bags lost money on our estimated original values.
At the top of the tree sits Hermes, of which plenty were sold last night. Hermes bags are sought after for the rarity of discontinued models, and the difficulty even of getting hold of brand-new ones.
Despite the fact that the cheapest new Birkin bag costs more than £6,000, there’s always a waiting list. And Hermes refuses to reveal how many bags it produces a year. The less available its bags are, the more people want them — and so the price goes up.
If Hermes leads the race, Chanel is snapping at its heels. There were around 20 Chanel bags on offer in the auction (compared to Hermes’s 150-plus), but their resale value is growing almost as fast as Hermes.
If you felt like a gamble, you might have put in a bid for Chanel’s Lucite ‘Casino’ bag, shaped like a die and seen on the 2016 runway — it sold for £7,715. The whimsical Plexiglas Russian doll, studded with pearls, went for £16,530.
Then there are the novelty bags, which, if it weren’t for the price, might be regarded as cute stocking fillers. Most of these 40 fanciful clutches are designed by Holocaust survivor Judith Leiber (now 96), who has been making bejewelled bags for the likes of Greta Garbo and Jennifer Lopez since 1963.
The remainder are the work of Kathrine Baumann, a former actress known as the ‘Beverly Hills Bag Lady’
The remainder are the work of Kathrine Baumann, a former actress known as the ‘Beverly Hills Bag Lady’, who is a kind of Andy Warhol of purses, creating crystal pop-art bags modelled on American symbols such as Coke bottles and Campbell’s Soup tins. They’re yours for up to £2,500 a pop.
Of course, not all It bags are equal. The notion of marketing handbags as the ultimate status symbol only really kicked off in the Nineties as both female consumers and large fashion corporations became more acquisitive.
Working women climbing the career ladder had greater spending power, while small, luxury-end businesses were being snapped up by the hungry conglomerates who came to realise that accessories, rather than clothing, could generate the best profits.
From the late Nineties, every fashion house tried to produce its own It bag, from Louis Vuitton’s Graffiti bag (2000), to the Chloe Paddington (2004), and the Mulberry ‘Alexa’ (2009) inspired by kooky fashion icon Alexa Chung — so many were produced that these are far from priceless.
Whether the It bags of the Nineties, Noughties and now will gain in value in the future has yet to be seen.
So if you do want an investment bag now, where do you go? Some are putting their money on Stalvey. It’s a new kid on the block, launched in 2014, and the brainchild of Jason Stalvey, who has a background in business and neuroscience (presumably he’s figured out the urge-to-splurge gene) and embeds gold into the skins he uses.
You can buy his Aliza clutch at Harrods for £20,500. According to Matthew Rubinger, Christie’s international head of handbags and accessories, Stalvey is a ‘will be’ brand.
For the super-rich, it’s a difficult choice. Put in a bid for a Birkin today, or take a punt on a Stalvey instead and hope the market will move in its favour in the future?
My advice: it’s only Christmas once a year, so why not go for broke and splash out on both?
Here, handbag specialist and TV expert Claudia Valentin estimates the original cost of the bags. We compare that to the price realised at auction, which includes the sold price and a buyer’s premium…
HOW MUCH THOSE BAGS WERE BOUGHT FOR – AND HOW MUCH THEY WENT FOR
Hermes blue bag, 2017
A small daisy blue crocodile blue bag complete with lock and dust sack — and only made this year.
Bought for around: £8,000
Sold yesterday at: £30,000
Chanel pearl flap bag with matt gold hardware, 2014
A gorgeous evening bag in Chanel’s iconic flap style.
Bought for around: £3,200
Sold yesterday at: £3,500
Chanel metallic bag, 2002
A unashamedly girly bag in lambskin and adorned with pearls.
Bought for around: £2,500
Sold yesterday at: Did not sell
Chanel plexiglass Russian doll bag, 2012
A novelty design sure to appeal to the Russian market.
Bought for around: £3,000
Sold yesterday at £13,100
Black crocodile Birkin, 2007
Complete with 18 carat gold and diamond hardware.
bought for around: £8,000
Sold yesterday at: £61,000
Himalayan Crocodile Kelly Bag, 2014
Made from incredibly rare albino crocodile skin.
Bought for around: £60,000
Sold yesterday at: £66,000
Hermes multi-coloured suede Kelly, 1996
Bought for around: £3,000
Sold yesterday at: £7,500
Hermes blue wallet, 2012
Tiny – but irresistible.
Bought for around: £400
Sold yesterday at: £ 1,100
Chanel LED Boy Bag, 2017
Bought for around: £4,500
Sold yesterday at: £8,815
Louis Vuitton limited edition, 2003
The print is ‘Eye Dare You’ by artist Takashi Murakami.
Bought for around: Est cost £2,500
Sold yesterday at: £3,300
Chanel Casino 2016
A ‘casino bag’ made to look like a dice in black lucite with gold hardware.
Bought for around: £5,000
Sold yesterday at: £6,100
Mini Kelly in Epsom Leather, 1991
Once belonged to Elizabeth Taylor.
Bought for around: £2,000
Sold yesterday at: £40,000
Chanel black enamel and stone Zodiac evening bag, 2007
Studded with semi-precious stones.
Bought for around: £2,000
Sold yesterday at: £3,000
Chanel red plexiglass ‘Lego’ evening bag, 2011
One of Chanel’s novelty bags straight from the catwalk.
Bought for around: £5,000
Sold for: £2,100
Louis Vuitton limited edition bag by Yayoi Kusama, 2010
A gorgeous limited edition in leather.
Bought for around: £3,500
Sold for: £1,200
Crystal Campbell’s Condensed Tomato Soup bag by Kathrine Baumann, 1990s
A tribute to Andy Warhol.
Bought for around: £1,800
Sold for: £600
Crystal coke bottle bag by Kathrine Baumann
Designed by a former American beauty queen who specialises in novelty bags.
Bought for around: £1,800
Sold for: £2,400