Recession-proof way to flex personal style

It may have started with Labubus, but bag charms exploded into their own category of products in 2025.

- Amanda Chai

From plushies to jewellery-inspired chains to beaded key-chains to clip-on beauty products, you would be hard-pressed to find a tote on the streets not covered in trinkets and toys.

Accessorising one's purse became the de facto way to express identity and personal style. Carrying the same bag at an event became less of a fashion faux pas when you “made” it your own.

Global luxury houses, too, gave their stamp of approval. Everyone from Louis Vuitton and Miu Miu to Balenciaga and Kate Spade embraced them - debuting on the runways bags studded with chains and charms that eventually found their way into stores.

Fast-fashion brands quickly caught on, some releasing designs where the charm is what sells the purse. In Singapore, a new wave of craft businesses offering bag charms you can make yourself sprouted.

No doubt, this trend is cyclical. Earlier in 2025, it was nicknamed “Jane Birkin-ifying” your bag - as a nod to the British actress and 1980s fashion icon's penchant for over-accessorising her handbags.