Your It-Bag Will Be Irrelevant Before Your Credit Card Bill Is Paid Off—And That’s By Design

by Thea Elle | Mar 21, 2025 | Luxury Industrial Complex

Style Companion

Your It-Bag Will Be Irrelevant Before Your Credit Card Bill Is Paid Off—And That’s By Design

by Thea Elle | Mar., 21, 2025 | Luxury Accessories

It always begins with an accidental moment. A celebrity steps out with an unfamiliar bag, the paparazzi capture it, and suddenly, fashion editors are calling it the must-have accessory. Within weeks, influencers flood Instagram with expertly curated shots, resale prices double, and waitlists form overnight.

Then, just as you’ve convinced yourself that going into debt for this bag is an “investment,” the industry flips the script. The next collection drops, the newest model takes center stage, and suddenly, last season’s obsession looks embarrassingly outdated.

Influencers quietly move on, resale value crashes, and brands distance themselves from what they once hyped as a forever piece. You didn’t buy a future heirloom—you bought a designer time bomb.

The Rise and Fall of an It-Bag: A Scripted Spectacle

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Influencers quietly move on, resale value crashes, and brands distance themselves from what they once hyped as a forever piece. You didn’t buy a future heirloom—you bought a designer time bomb.

The ‘Timeless Classic’ Myth: A Marketing Gimmick

Luxury brands have perfected the art of selling a dream—one where a handbag isn’t just an accessory but an heirloom, a symbol of refined taste, and a so-called “investment piece” that transcends time. The Chanel Flap, the Hermès Kelly, the Lady Dior—these bags are positioned as eternal, immune to fleeting trends, and worthy of being passed down through generations. The message is clear: buy this bag, and you’ll never need another.

But here’s the catch—no bag is truly safe from fashion’s relentless cycle of reinvention. Even the most revered “classics” undergo subtle modifications that make older versions appear just a little less desirable. Then there are the once-iconic bags that, for a moment, seemed poised to join the pantheon of the truly timeless—only to be quietly phased out. The PRADA Cahier, the GUCCI Sylvie, the DIOR Saddle Bag—all marketed as enduring staples, all inevitably overshadowed by whatever the brand decided to push next. Because despite what luxury houses claim, their goal isn’t to create pieces that stand the test of time—it’s to manufacture desire, then systematically dismantle it to make room for the next “must-have.”

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Fall Luxe: Earthy Tones and Laid-Back Elegance

Autumn brings with it the scent of pumpkin spice and the urge to wear every shade of brown imaginable. Thankfully, fall bags are all about earthy tones, luxurious leathers, and oversized designs that complement your layered wardrobe. Whether you’re apple-picking or just admiring the foliage, you’ll need a bag that’s as comfortable as it is chic.

The PRADA Galleria Bag in black leather, spotlighted on a minimalist white shelf in a luxury boutique.

A look at how ‘timeless’ bags are subtly made to feel outdated.

The Luxury Industry’s Greatest Illusion: Organic Hype

Think it’s random that every influencer suddenly carries the same bag? Think again. The luxury industry is a masterclass in controlled desirability. Brands don’t hope a bag becomes popular—they engineer it. Red carpet placements, front-row fashion week sightings, influencer gifting—all meticulously timed to create a sense of inevitability. By the time the average shopper starts to covet the bag, it’s already nearing the end of its pre-planned lifespan. The hype you fell for? Years in the making.

Own Your Style, Not a Marketing Fantasy

Fashion should be fun—not a financial trap. The next time an It-Bag floods your feed, take a step back. Do you genuinely love it, or are you just being swept up in the hype?

Because one thing is certain: by this time next year, the industry will have moved on. And maybe—just maybe—you should, too.

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The Five Most Classic Luxury Handbags in History

by CRIS&COCO | Feb 16, 2023 | Luxury Industrial Complex

You can be sure these timeless luxury icons will never go out of style.

The luxury handbag world is vast, with both new handbag brands and new designs from storied luxury houses popping up season after season. Each year, there are countless silhouettes on the market, and consumers are blessed with more options than ever.

While consumers often pay attention to what’s new and trendy, demand will always remain for the tried and true classics – the ones that have stood the test of time. It’s those classics that have helped to shape fashion history contributing to the luxury accessory world we know (and love) today.

So whether you’re new to the world of designer bags and looking to purchase your first one, or are making it your goal to collect all of the classics, today we thought it would be fun to break day the 5 most luxury classic handbags in all of modern handbag history.

The HERMÈS Birkin

We’re kicking it off with one of the most elusive bags of handbag history, the unmistakeable HERMÈS Birkin.

If you love luxury handbags, you likely know the story of the Birkin’s creation, whether you own one or not. In the early 1980s, HERMÈS CEO Jean-Louis Dumas sat next to Jane Birkin on an airplane. In-flight, the duo discussed what would make a good carry-on bag after Jane Birkin was seen fumbling with hers.

One sketch on an airplane sick bag, and in 1984, the HERMÈS Birkin was born. To this day, it spawns waitlists and sells at a premium on the secondary market. It is still widely considered the world’s ultimate luxury bag.

LOUIS VUITTON Speedy

Like it or not, the LOUIS VUITTON Speedy will forever be classified as one of the most classic bags in handbag history, as well as one of the most recognisable. Dating back to the 1930s, the Speedy was conceptualized as LOUIS VUITTON’s first daily hauler and was largely based on another one of the brand’s classics: The Keepall. First introduced in the 30 size, the Speedy 25 was later added in 1959 at the request of none other than Audrey Hepburn. The actress was then photographed carrying her Speedy time and time again.

The Speedy’s range is vast, offering multiple sizes from ultra-petite to extra-large and a wide array of materials and colors. Of course, the brand’s monogram is ubiquitous and has an important history. The LOUIS VUITTON Monogram was already copyrighted in 1896 when it was invented by Louis Vuitton’s son Georges.

Combining Louis Vuitton’s initials with abstract floral shapes, the creation of LV Monogram was a radical move, as prior to this creation any initials typically seen on a trunk were usually the carrier’s own.

The Lady DIOR

The youngest handbag on our list, few other new handbag designs of the last 30 years have been able to stand the test of time in the way that the Lady DIOR has. However, it was basically destined to become handbag royalty since it was named after British royalty herself, the late Lady Diana, Princess of Wales. Few bags boast the versatility of the Lady DIOR, and its classic shape makes it an ageless icon.

Unmistakably DIOR, the Lady DIOR pays homage to the history of the House. While the bag’s charms are an ode to the lucky charms Christian Dior always kept with him, the staple Cannage motif traces back to the Napoleon III seats the House used to set up for guests at fashion shows. Reinvented season after season and forever a beloved choice for handbag lovers of any age, the Lady DIOR has cemented its place among other revered bags of its caliber.

CHANEL’s Classic Flap Bag

If you thought we’d leave out the CHANEL Classic Flap, you thought wrong.

Known by most as the CHANEL Classic Flap, the bag also goes by the CHANEL 11.12 and is one of the most widely recognizable handbags of all time. The name 11.12 comes from the original style code given by CHANEL to the Medium Classic Flap (A01112), the OG of the Classic Flap family. The original was derived from the CHANEL 2.55 bag and came to be what we know it as today in 1983, when Karl Lagerfeld added the now-signature interwoven CC turn lock to the bag.

Despite hefty price increases, the demand for the CHANEL Classic Flap shows no signs of slowing down. It has remained one of the handbag world’s most sought-after shapes thanks to its status, reinvented repeatedly.

GUCCI Bamboo

While not a specific bag exactly, GUCCI Bamboo deserves a place on this list as few elements of handbag history are as recognizable and inventive as the curved handles of Gucci Bamboo.

The patented method of creation was developed in 1947 by GUCCI craftsmen who realized there was a specific process to heat and bend bamboo in such a way that it would retain its shape once cooled.

The process is detailed and thorough, and you can be sure that each and every Bamboo piece used for a handbag has been hand-chosen by a specially trained artisan who will then mold the bamboo over a fire to bend it into shape. As the bamboo heats up, it softens, making it malleable.

Artisans have meticulously crafted GUCCI’s Bamboo Handles this way for generations. And while GUCCI Bamboo is easily one of the House’s most emblematic symbols, it also happens to be one of the handbag world’s most classic bags, remaining a mainstay for the House since the 1940s. A GUCCI Bamboo bag is one of the most timeless bags a handbag lover can buy.