BAG CHARMS GIVE RETAIL A LIFT

AS WEALTHY CONSUMERS CUT BACK, FASHION HOUSES TRY TO LURE THEM WITH LESS EXPENSIVE TRINKETS

- STORY: MICAH BARKLEY

Years after Jane Birkin famously decorated her eponymous Hermès handbag with clusters of trinkets and strands of beads, bag charms have made a big comeback.

Plush Labubu keychains helped revive the Gen Z-fuelled accessorise-your-accessory trend and catapulted it into the mainstream. Now charms are showing up on elite fashion runways and dangling from the purses of celebrities.

Designer handbag makers, anxious for growth during a downturn, are especially eager to get in on the phenomenon. If affluent shoppers can’t be persuaded to drop thousands of dollars on a new purse, perhaps they can be enticed to spend a few hundred dollars on a branded charm for a purse they already own.

Ethan Diaz, 24, used to splurge regularly on high-priced purses and streetwear that he would barely use. Now, bag charms enable him to quickly switch up the look of his purses without blowing his budget.

He recently dressed up his $695 (22,000 baht) Coach Soft Empire Carryall Bag with a handful of eclectic charms, including a $120 Longchamp keyring in the shape of a croissant.

The commercial director from New Jersey began buying the embellishments a year ago and now owns 30, the most expensive being a $1,010 Louis Vuitton crab charm that doubles as a small pouch.

"You can mix and match and put it on different bags, so you're not limited to one specific style," Mr Diaz said.