Fashion’s forever quest for “It” bags is intensifying as European luxury brands jockey to restore excitement in the category amid lingering consumer ennui.

Givenchy and Saint Laurent are among brands to have brought in high-profile design talent this year — Etro’s recently departed creative director Marco de Vincenzo and Louis Vuitton’s former handbag whiz Johnny Coca, respectively — while Dior leans into early Jonathan Anderson-designed hits like Le Cigale, and Gucci tweaks bag prices to improve its fortunes.

Multiple observers cite diminishing prospects for luxury handbags.

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In the first two quarters of 2026, there were zero bags in the top 10 of Lyst’s Hottest Product rankings. This compares to handbags holding seven spots in 2023, six in 2024, and four across all of 2025.

“We’re witnessing the demise of the luxury ‘It’ bag as a single cultural touchstone,” said Katy Lubin, vice president of brand and communications at Lyst. “That doesn’t mean handbag demand is dead, but instead bag desire is fragmenting, becoming more personal and more reactive.”

To be sure, the category appears volatile.

“Handbag demand dipped 5.5 percent in April 2026 versus April 2025, but overall volume of bag searches is still climbing on Lyst,” Lubin said. “We’re also seeing a move away from brand-led bag searches, where shoppers are looking for a specific piece by a known designer.

“What’s breaking through tells an interesting story: ultra-status pieces like the Chanel flap bag or Hermès Birkin still cut through culturally, but so do accessible status signals,” she continued. “Our Q1 Lyst Index had the Trader Joe’s tote sitting alongside the Chanel flap, which says a lot about where consumer identity-signaling has gone.”

Experts say multiple missteps in recent years have contributed to luxury handbag fatigue.

“The big mistake of fashion brands was to be overly ambitious in their price positioning that was mostly prepared in 2023 when everything was fine,” said Jean Revis, cofounder of Paris-based luxury consultancy MAD. “They confounded price elevation with brand elevation — and the launched products were too expensive for the brand reputation.”

In his view, skyrocketing handbag prices compelled some ardent spenders to plow budgets into fine jewelry, which has a higher “investment perception,” and made it difficult for brands to recruit new clients.

Hence, Revis said several brands are developing more affordable entry-price products to reconnect with affluent clients “or creating cheaper versions of their icons” in order to compete with less expensive brands with a higher “cool factor.”

“A large part of the business is done with loyal luxury clients,” Revis said. “It’s possible that they start asking themselves if they really need another bag, especially if it’s a seasonal variation of one they already have.”

Luca Solca, luxury analyst at Bernstein, agreed that “greedflation” at luxury brands post-COVID has made jewelry more attractive — hence Richemont’s 24 percent growth in its most recent quarter, versus 1 percent for LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton’s fashion and leather goods division.

What’s more, “handbags are primarily a status symbol prized by newly rich consumers — and the industry is bleeding consumers. According to Altagamma, more than 50 million people have left luxury goods. Hence the underlying demand for handbags is weakening,” Solca said.

By contrast, “brands that have adjusted prices down to provide a better value-for-money perception are improving,” he said, citing Burberry as one example. Coach is another. “It’s thriving. Because a lot of middle class consumers globally are trading down.”

Coach’s sales were up 14 percent in constant currencies to $1.6 billion in the fourth quarter ended June 27, as reported.

Data from Joor, a wholesale management platform, suggests handbags are finally picking up, but thanks to the accessible end of the spectrum. At the request of WWD, it analyzed the number of units sold in the first half over the past five years.

“The share of units sold at a $1,000+ retail price has declined significantly, from 6.1 percent in H1 2022 to 2.5 percent in H1 2026,” said Amanda McCormick Bacal, Joor’s senior vice president of marketing.

By contrast, the under $250 price bracket has been the fastest-growing segment, increasing its share of total units sold from 15.8 percent in the first half of 2022 to 22.3 percent in the first half of 2026, she said.

Wholesale transactions for handbags in the first half of 2026 increased 26 percent over a year ago, “marking a reversal of the declining trend seen over the past few years.”

“This suggests that while the overall handbag category is growing, demand is increasingly concentrated in more accessible price points,” McCormick Bacal said.

Indeed, a host of leather goods brands are winning mind — and wallet — share in what’s shaping up as a luxury hangover period.

“I don’t think any lull in handbags will be long-term because there are a lot of new players on the field and they are bringing an ‘if you know, you know’ uniqueness and desirability,” said Mary Gallagher, Paris-based associate of boutique recruitment firm Find Consulting.

“In addition, luxury and established brands who never before had competition with small upstarts for handbag market share can no longer rely mainly on merchandising and carryovers for their core business, so they’ll need to surprise and excite with creative renewal,” she said.

Toteme, Polène, Elleme, Strathberry, DeMellier and Staud are among brands she touted as peddling “smart, chic investment pieces at a fraction of the cost of established luxury and logo’ed brands.”

Gallagher also cited the booming vintage and resale market as another sector nibbling away at luxury’s cake.

“Nabbing a great handbag secondhand has cachet and has become a point of pride, even for shoppers who are used to buying at full-price retail,” she said. “Huge margin increases have shown that prices have been artificially inflated year-on-year and many consumers are finding that cynical.”

Christine Montard, director of markets and events at the International Association of Department Stores, confirmed the handbag business is slowing among its members, whereas the beauty business, particularly expensive lipsticks and niche fragrances, is flourishing.

To counteract soft business among such stalwarts as Gucci and Balenciaga, many department stores are “adapting their floors” and sometimes allocating more space to more affordable brands such as Polène, DeMellier, Dragon Diffusion and Songmont.

“That sort of price positioning is successful at the moment, and it’s a mirror of luxury fatigue,” Montard said. “A Polène bag costs something like 700 euros, the store concept is beautiful, the staff is knowledgeable and the product itself is really good.

“Customers are still buying leather goods, but they are buying belts and other items that are cheaper,” Montard said, mentioning Celine belts with its signifier Triomphe buckle as a popular item.

“Customers are also really into hospitality experiences, so at some point, it takes some money from buying handbags,” she added.

In China, handbags remain the most important category, according to Tao Liang, professionally known as Mr. Bags.

Still, he acknowledged that the luxury handbag market in China today “is much more complicated than it was 10 years ago” due to a surge in travel to Japan, Korea and Europe, where prices are more compelling, and heightened interest in secondhand luxury and “long-termism.

“Many people now care more about a bag’s resale value,” Liang said. “People pay more attention to long‑term value, everyday practicality, whether there’s a real use case, and cost‑effectiveness.”

Over the past 15 years, Liang has seen the field of popular brands narrowing. According to his rankings, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Hermès, and Dior are consistently the most beloved bag brands year‑round.

“Many other brands find it hard to sustain lasting consumer affection for any particular bag,” he said in an interview. “It feels like brands either need to follow the path of Prada, Balenciaga’s Le City bag, or Goyard — highly functional, versatile for many occasions, and reasonably priced — or take the approach of Miu Miu, The Row, or the new Chanel, representing a very distinct aesthetic. If a brand lacks a clear identity, and its bags are stiff, heavy, and don’t offer multiple ways to carry, it will really struggle to gain market share.”

Asked what luxury brands should do to improve their fortunes, Liang recommended putting themselves in consumers’ shoes.

“Moreover, this younger generation has much wider interests: celebrity chasing, concerts, video games, travel,” Liang said. “Shopping and fashion may not be their top priority; their attention is divided among various hobbies, and there are so many fields to spend money.”

Still, true to his name, Mr. Bags is curious about the new creative wizards at Givenchy and Saint Laurent: “I’m really looking forward to both of them. I deeply love the designs and bags that Marco de Vincenzo created at Etro. And when Johnny Coca was at Mulberry, I was already a huge fan of his.”

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