Can someone explain the appeal of expensive Hermès bags to me

[KellyK2026]

I don’t know how, but I recently got sucked into watching a bunch of Love Luxury videos on YouTube which features rich people buying expensive Hermes bags. Can someone please explain the obsession with Hermes bags? To me, they look very basic or just plain ugly. I cannot fathom why someone would pay £20,000-200k on a bag which costs a fraction of that price to produce and was mostly made in China. I’d rather get a good quality bag which has been handcrafted locally for £200 or less. Someone please explain it to me?!

In response to people saying that anyone who criticises the bags can’t afford one, which is ridiculous.

But lots of people are saying lots of things, the only thing you keep repeating is that;

snd I just don’t buy you’re super wealthy. I just don’t.

That’s the only thing I keep repeating? I suggest you read the comments again.

and you don’t have to buy it lol. You’re a stranger on the internet. What you think about my financial situation is neither here nor there honestly.

I wouldn't play the hermes game so the boutique would be a no for me. I am not doing pre-spend/ 2 yr wait lists or befriending a sales person. I have enough friends. I browse online but picos in the right leather - rare/ but that would be my limit.

I don't need validation and I assume everyone thinks ALL my handbags are fake. I don't care because I like bags. I have all the paperwork and that bag I bought 10 yrs ago could make me some cash if I chose to sell. Not bought for investment but I have LEs that I know would do well on the secondary market so I'm good with that and the judgement that comes with wearing pricey bags.

Yes. Did you not read my reply about posting what I like? Or are you making things up again?

Rolex is a not for profit charity. Not many people are aware of that. They reinvest their profits into charitable causes like teaching watch making skills to humans.

Bosch and Hershey chocolate are also charities and reinvest profits into training youngsters!

That’s fair enough. No, I don’t get the Hermes game either. If I was into designer bags I’d prefer to go into a shop and pick out what I wanted and have that bag immediately. Who wants to be waiting for up to a year? Not me.

Me neither, I must be a bit dim because I thought crocodile type leather was leather made to look like crocodile

I dont have a problem with cow/sheep/goat leather because thats a by product for food and I support the meat industry in general (with caveats)

But I dont support breeding animals just for their skin, for fashion. Thats like rabbit farms when poeple wore fur.

No, if you want to waste your time giving me unwanted advice then go ahead. I’ve been hundred percent transparent and said that I really do not care for the judgement of someone who thinks skinning two crocodiles to make a bag is OK. So honestly whatever you’re saying is going in one ear and out of the other. But if that’s how to want to spend your evening, knock yourself out.

Are they really?!?! I did not know that!!

Now a Rolex i might purchase if I could afford it - because i do like the look.

This is stunning. Sadly its £14k which is out of my price range for a watch

https://www.rolex.com/en-gb/watches/datejust/m126231-0020

No, and the process is very different. These are apex predators who, in the wild, roam large distances and can live up to 70 years. In these farms they are confined to small areas and are killed at 2-3 years old. It takes two crocs to make a bag. Then their skull is much thicker than a cow or sheep so it can take several attempts to euthanise them, which is extremely painful for the croc. Also, it’s dangerous. Reptiles carry pathogens that mammals do not. We’ve just come out of a pandemic, I don’t fancy going into another.

God this is depressing I never knew this.

People kill Foxes, Mink, Racoons, rabbits and plenty more for people to wear at insane prices.

If I had the money (I don’t!) and I really wanted a Hermes bag (I don’t!) then of course I would buy one! I have 26 pairs of Adidas Spezials and Sambas not including the two pairs of Adidas Samba Mary Jane’s that I bought on pay day, 9 million Fred Perry polos and countless Diesel skinzees! The worth of something is made by how much the owner values it! I don’t like the bags so they’re not worth a tenner to me, the same as my Adidas trainers, Fred Perry tops and Diesel jeans are probably not worth a fiver to the owner of a 10k Hermes bag!

….. and taking of ethics, often sales of fakes fund organised crime 😳

It has to do with the investment value and also the cachet. They go up in value quite fast and so you can make a few grand in a few years, is my understanding.
I have zero interest in them as a fashion item but if I was looking to park some money I’d look into this aspect of them.

I just said they are good replicas nowadays. I didn’t say I support them

I used to be fashion mad. I was in the Hermes store nearly three decades now in NYC. I was buying myself a scarf.
I did ask about ‘the bag’ and they actually had one that had just come in.
And they let me look at it but I couldn’t touch it without gloves on.
It was lovely to be fair and I can remember thinking - $5,000 dollars, though.
The prices now have gone up so much it’s ridiculous and of course demand for the bag has gone up.
I used to love spotting one in the wild, usually on someone a bit older who looked groomed and had a lot of money.
Now the copies are everywhere. I watched a new TOWIE the other day (don’t judge me!) and three of the girls had replicas. They just looked cheap.
Quality everywhere isn’t what it was. There was a thread on here recently on high street brands that used to have some quality going downhill.
But I think the same can be said everywhere. No, I wouldn’t say no to a Chanel jacket or another beautiful Hermes scarf, but I’ve seen scarves online, replicas, for £3. So for me now I’d rather forgo a logo - and I can’t afford them these days anyway.
An Hermes bag now just requires no thought. Thinking back for me it was Victoria Beckham wearing them with hot pants in her WAG era which ruined them for me.
I think that era really connected young girls with luxury brands on a mass scale so they all wanted Louboutins etc and that has just grown over time.
It is now the same look on repeat.

One other thing @KellyK2026ans others- can you explain why “mostly manufactured in China” is used as a sign it can’t be good quality?

I have noticed before on threads about luxury goods, this assumption that China = crap quality and Europe = craftsmanship.

It always strikes me as racist, while many fast fashion producers do use China production to make cheap crap, the assumption seems to be that Chinese people are incapable of producing quality goods.

“made in Europe” often is a justification for a higher price not because of higher quality but higher production costs for the same thing, yet so many people have taken “made in China” to equal low quality.

I don’t think it indicates lower quality, and I don’t think anyone said that, but China does not pay the same living wage to workers as they do in Europe. The conditions are far worse generally. If I’m paying for a product that has been handmade in Europe I’m also absorbing the cost of labour, which is higher than in China. Simply put, it costs a lot less to produce something in China than in Europe and that should be reflected in the cost of the product.

I’ve heard other people say the same thing and I read an article the other day that said a lot of genuinely wealthy, old money types are steering clear of brands like Hermes because now it’s been associated with influencer culture. I’ve met a couple of billionaires in my time and they don’t wear anything with a logo. They will wear some cardigan from some obscure brand that hardly anyone has ever heard of but it costs £10k.

I’ve only ever met one once. It was only when he said a few things about himself that I worked it out. He wasn’t famous but I had a background at the time in finance after Uni. You would never, ever have known.
Shame he was three inches shorter than me.
As my Nan said… Petula you could have gotten him some Simon Cowell shoes and worn flats yourself 🤩

You're giving David Brent... 😆Absolutely hilarious

By Jove, I think she's got it!

That's exactly why they're called aspirational brands. They're not mass-produced because they're not meant for everyone. The exclusivity is what creates the desirability. If you own one, you're either in the wealthier bracket or you aspire to be there.

If you don't see the appeal, that's fine, but others do!

what a weird comment. You’re giving ‘I’m unemployed’ with the amount of time you’re spending reading comments that aren’t directed at you.