Why Prices of the World’s Most Expensive Handbags Keep Rising
Designers are charging more for their most recognisable bags to maintain the appearance of exclusivity as the industry balloons
3 min
The price of a basic Hermès Birkin handbag has jumped $1,000. This first-world problem for fashionistas is a sign that luxury brands are playing harder to get with their most sought-after products.
Hermès recently raised the cost of a basic Birkin 25-centimeter handbag in its U.S. stores by 10% to $11,400 before sales tax, according to data from luxury handbag forum PurseBop. Rarer Birkins made with exotic skins such as crocodile have jumped more than 20%. The Paris brand says it only increases prices to offset higher manufacturing costs, but this year’s increase is its largest in at least a decade.
The brand may feel under pressure to defend its reputation as the maker of the world’s most expensive handbags. The “Birkin premium”—the price difference between the Hermès bag and its closest competitor , the Chanel Classic Flap in medium—shrank from 70% in 2019 to 2% last year, according to PurseBop founder Monika Arora. Privately owned Chanel has jacked up the price of its most popular handbag by 75% since before the pandemic.
Eye-watering price increases on luxury brands’ benchmark products are a wider trend. Prada ’s Galleria bag will set shoppers back a cool $4,600—85% more than in 2019, according to the Wayback Machine internet archive. Christian Dior ’s Lady Dior bag and the Louis Vuitton Neverfull are both 45% more expensive, PurseBop data show.
With the U.S. consumer-price index up a fifth since 2019, luxury brands do need to offset higher wage and materials costs. But the inflation-beating increases are also a way to manage the challenge presented by their own success: how to maintain an aura of exclusivity at the same time as strong sales.
Luxury brands have grown enormously in recent years, helped by the Covid-19 lockdowns, when consumers had fewer outlets for spending. LVMH ’s fashion and leather goods division alone has almost doubled in size since 2019, with €42.2 billion in sales last year, equivalent to $45.8 billion at current exchange rates. Gucci, Chanel and Hermès all make more than $10 billion in sales a year. One way to avoid overexposure is to sell fewer items at much higher prices.
Many aspirational shoppers can no longer afford the handbags, but luxury brands can’t risk alienating them altogether. This may explain why labels such as Hermès and Prada have launched makeup lines and Gucci’s owner Kering is pushing deeper into eyewear. These cheaper categories can be a kind of consolation prize. They can also be sold in the tens of millions without saturating the market.
“Cosmetics are invisible—unless you catch someone applying lipstick and see the logo, you can’t tell the brand,” says Luca Solca, luxury analyst at Bernstein.
Most of the luxury industry’s growth in 2024 will come from price increases. Sales are expected to rise by 7% this year, according to Bernstein estimates, even as brands only sell 1% to 2% more stuff.
Limiting volume growth this way only works if a brand is so popular that shoppers won’t balk at climbing prices and defect to another label. Some companies may have pushed prices beyond what consumers think they are worth. Sales of Prada’s handbags rose a meagre 1% in its last quarter and the group’s cheaper sister label Miu Miu is growing faster.
Ramping up prices can invite unflattering comparisons. At more than $2,000, Burberry ’s small Lola bag is around 40% more expensive today than it was a few years ago. Luxury shoppers may decide that tried and tested styles such as Louis Vuitton’s Neverfull bag, which is now a little cheaper than the Burberry bag, are a better buy—especially as Louis Vuitton bags hold their value better in the resale market.
Aggressive price increases can also drive shoppers to secondhand websites. If a barely used Prada Galleria bag in excellent condition can be picked up for $1,500 on luxury resale website The Real Real, it is less appealing to pay three times that amount for the bag brand new.
The strategy won’t help everyone, but for the best luxury brands, stretching the price spectrum can keep the risks of growth in check.
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From its Liverpool headquarters, Kanebridge Finance brings together decades of banking and lending experience to support developers and businesses across one of Sydney’s fastest-growing regions.
3 min
South Western Sydney is undergoing a significant transformation. New infrastructure, expanding industries and sustained population growth are creating opportunities for developers and business owners—but they are also producing increasingly complex funding requirements.
Kanebridge Finance has grown alongside this changing market. Established in 1999 and headquartered in Liverpool, the brokerage combines local knowledge with specialist experience across property development, commercial lending, asset finance and working capital.
Rather than relying on a traditional founder-led structure, the business draws on the complementary expertise of three senior leaders: Marwan Rahme, Jon Gawley and Mark Donovan.
Complementary experience, shared direction
Founder Marwan Rahme continues to shape Kanebridge Finance’s broader vision and growth strategy. His focus on innovation and expanding the firm’s capabilities has helped the business evolve well beyond a conventional finance brokerage.
Managing Director Jon Gawley oversees its day-to-day operations and commercial lending activities. A finalist for the 2026 AFG Best Broker – Commercial Lending award, Jon brings more than 20 years of senior business banking experience from NAB and Suncorp. His understanding of how lenders assess commercial transactions is particularly valuable for developers, business owners and borrowers navigating complex funding decisions.
Mark Donovan leads Kanebridge Finance’s asset finance and working capital offering. Recognised as a finalist for the 2026 AFG Best Broker – Asset Finance award, Mark joined the business following almost three decades in NAB’s business banking division. His team supports businesses seeking finance for equipment, construction activity, cash flow and expansion.
Together, the three leaders provide distinct but connected areas of expertise. Clients benefit from access to a broader team while still receiving advice from someone experienced in the particular type of finance their transaction requires.
Experience demonstrated through delivery
Kanebridge Finance’s position has been built through completed transactions and long-term client relationships.
The brokerage has funded approximately $675 million across residential and commercial projects, arranged $300 million in property development finance and supported the successful delivery of more than 100 projects.
These transactions frequently involve the kinds of challenges that require more than a standard lending approach: complicated ownership structures, staged developments, commercial property, business expansion and time-sensitive capital requirements.
The firm’s work has also received industry recognition. Kanebridge Finance was named MPA Magazine’s Commercial Broker of the Year in 2025 and 2026 and received a Global Best in Mortgage award recognising commercial brokers across the Asia-Pacific region, North America and the United Kingdom.
Local knowledge in a rapidly changing region
Liverpool is more than Kanebridge Finance’s head office location. It places the business within one of Australia’s most active development and investment corridors.
The growth associated with Western Sydney International Airport and the Aerotropolis is contributing to wider industrial, logistics, commercial and residential activity throughout South Western Sydney. For local businesses and developers, these opportunities often bring financing questions that cannot be answered by comparing interest rates alone.
Project location, development timing, lender appetite, cash-flow requirements and future expansion plans can all influence how a facility should be structured. Kanebridge Finance’s presence in the region gives its team an informed understanding of this environment and the ambitions of the people investing in it.
Specialist support without unnecessary complexity
For clients, the benefit of Kanebridge Finance’s leadership model is straightforward: they can work with one brokerage across several stages of growth without receiving generalised advice.
A developer seeking project funding can draw on the firm’s property and commercial finance experience. A growing company purchasing machinery or vehicles can work directly with its asset finance specialists. A business requiring additional liquidity can explore working capital solutions with advisers who understand business banking and cash flow.
Each client is connected with the expertise most relevant to the transaction, while the wider team remains available as their circumstances evolve.
As investment in South Western Sydney continues, Kanebridge Finance is positioned to support the businesses and developments helping shape the region—combining more than two decades of local presence with the specialist capability required to turn ambitious plans into funded projects.
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