Christie’s Rachel Koffsky On How the Handbag Became the Art Market’s Most Elegant Entry Point

June 8, 2026 / Sophie Clearwater /

Christie’s Handbags Online: The New York Edit sale features nearly 300 pieces, from “holy-grail” Hermès handbags to iconic vintage Chanel runway finds and a Fendi Baguette capsule selection from Elizabeth Taylor’s collection. CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2026

Revenue reports from both major auction houses have confirmed that luxury collectibles are no longer a side category but a significant part of the business. At Sotheby’s, the luxury sector generated $2.7 billion in revenue, up 22 percent year-over-year. At Christie’s, luxury sales reached $795 million, up 17 percent from 2024, plus $234 million in automotive sales following Christie’s acquisition of Gooding—an increase of 14 percent year-over-year. Luxury collectibles also provide an accessible entry point, attracting new buyers, many of them younger and from emerging markets, with the benefit of broadening the house’s overall reach. “Luxury has become one of Christie’s most important drivers of strategic and sustainable growth in the post-COVID years, consistently acting as a key entry point for new client engagement,” Kimberly Miller, global managing director of luxury, told Observer earlier this year. Forty-one percent of all new bidders and buyers entered Christie’s through luxury auctions, and 44 percent of participants in 2025 were Millennials and Gen Z. That likely reflects both age and price accessibility; these cohorts are also more flexible and casual in their purchasing behavior, with 85 percent of bids placed online.

Handbags, in particular, are one of the strongest entry points for first-time buyers, with a breadth of pricing that ranges from a few hundred dollars to six- and seven-figure sales, like last year’s record-breaking $10.1 million Hermès Birkin. As the viewing opened at Rockefeller Center for the upcoming online auction Handbags Online: The New York Edit, running from May 28 to June 11, we spoke with Christie’s specialist Rachel Koffsky Parker to understand the dynamics and trends shaping this fast-growing global market.

The highly anticipated sale features nearly 300 pieces, ranging from holy-grail Hermès handbags to iconic vintage Chanel runway finds and several tightly curated collections. Leading the sale is a Matte White Himalaya Niloticus Crocodile Birkin 30 with Palladium Hardware and an estimate of $90,000-120,000. Additional top lots include a Shiny Rose Tyrien Niloticus Crocodile Birkin 30 with Palladium Hardware (estimate: $35,000-45,000), a Shiny Vert Emeraude Niloticus Crocodile Birkin 30 with Gold Hardware and a Shiny Black Niloticus Crocodile Birkin 25 with Gold Hardware (each estimated at $50,000-60,000).

The auction also includes jewelry from heritage brands such as Dior and Chanel, as well as lifestyle items such as a Piaggio x Dior Vespa ($10,000-15,000) and niche nostalgia-tied pieces such as a Chrome Hearts large Harris Teeter necklace by Joe Foti, dated 1998 (estimate: $3,000-4,000) and a suede laser-cut bikini (estimate: $4,000-7,000). Designed to be “timeless,” as Karl Lagerfeld once recognized, Chrome Hearts’ rapid ascent took the brand from L.A. and New York to Tokyo, with Comme des Garçons founder Rei Kawakubo among its earliest devotees. A more overtly art-world addition to the sale is a readymade by Jeff Koons incorporating a Kelly bag displayed on a shelf, Kelly Bag Ivory (Shelf) (2014), which has a $30,000-50,000 estimate.

The sale was assembled much like a contemporary art or jewelry auction: specialists spent the year advising clients on when to sell, where the market is moving and which categories are generating demand, Koffsky Parker explained. What distinguishes the category is that it is intentionally more accessible and less overwhelming. “The art market may feel intimidating and very academic; you may feel you have to be a student of art history and assume there is a very expensive entry price. Handbags are a much more approachable opportunity for collectors to come through our doors.” Last year, Christie’s handbags department brought in about 12 percent of all new clients, and frequently 50 percent of bidders in its sales are new to the auction house.

U.S. handbag auctions are conducted online over roughly two weeks, allowing clients to bid from different time zones. “We also take pieces to other Christie’s locations to connect with clients in those regions, whether that is Greenwich, Connecticut, Los Angeles or Palm Beach,” Koffsky Parker added, emphasizing the importance of these touchpoints throughout the year and across the country.

A woman in a black suit with pearl buttons stands smiling against a pale studio backdrop. — “Handbags are a much more approachable opportunity for collectors to come through our doors,” said Christie’s specialist Rachel Koffsky Parker, who describes luxury as a key entry point for new buyers. CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2026

While most bidders and buyers in U.S. sales are based in the U.S., Koffsky Parker describes the category as highly international, noting that Christie’s handbag sales drew participation from more than 70 countries last year. The department also holds sales in Hong Kong and Paris, with demand rising across regions. “It is very international. The pieces are attractive to clients all around the world, so we see bidding from many different regions,” she acknowledges.

Hermès remains the dominant brand in collectible handbags. Yet while the Birkin and Kelly remain the core icons, serious Hermès collectors are increasingly focused on highly specific details: limited editions, custom Mini Kellys, special color combinations, rare leathers such as Volynka and colors such as Rose Azalée. “The language of Hermès is a very specific language that collectors speak, whether it is a special color or a rare leather,” Koffsky Parker explained. “There is a way collectors talk about Hermès that is extremely specific.”

Faubourg Birkin variations, particularly the “Snow” and “Rainy Days” editions, are achieving some of the highest prices. The Rainy Days Faubourg Birkin 20 with Permabrass hardware sold for $215,900 as the top lot of Christie’s Handbags Online: The New York Edit auction in September 2025, which totaled $3.6 million, where a Rare Nuit Faubourg Birkin 20 also realized $165,100.

Chanel is the second most popular brand, but demand is no longer concentrated on the classic flap bag alone. Koffsky Parker pointed to growing interest in archival Chanel, especially rare runway pieces, Karl Lagerfeld-era lucite minaudières and limited catwalk editions, a trend that has gained further momentum following Matthieu Blazy’s arrival at the house. Among the notable examples is the record-breaking Chanel Rare Runway Silver & Black Lambskin Leather Shopping Basket Bag from 2014, which fetched $152,400—more than 10 times its low estimate of $15,000—in Christie’s September sale.

“There is now an appreciation for a specific runway show or a specific season,” Koffsky Parker adds, attributing this to a growing sense of nostalgia, particularly among Millennials.

Christie’s is also offering the Elizabeth Taylor Fendi Baguette Selection this season: a curated group of 20 Fendi Baguette bags formerly owned by the legendary Hollywood star, showcasing the house’s craftsmanship across decades, from early 2000s embellished designs to rare 1990s sequined and fur variations.

An overhead product image shows four Fendi handbags in red floral, brown, black embellished and patchwork designs arranged on a pale surface. — Elizabeth Taylor’s Fendi Baguette selection speaks to early millennial nostalgia around the origins of the ‘It bag,’ with several pieces returning to market 15 years after Christie’s landmark Taylor sale. CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2026

Highlights include a Red, White & Black Embellished Canvas Floral Print Baguette (estimate: $3,000-5,000), circa 2000s, previously owned by Elizabeth Taylor and offered with its original style ID and care card. Also featured is a Brown Cuoio Romano Leather Selleria Baguette (estimate: $3,000-5,000) with sterling silver hardware, accompanied by care cards and tags from Christie’s 2011 Collection of Elizabeth Taylor auction.

Bidding on many of these starts at $100, with estimates ranging from $3,000 to $5,000. “The Fendi Baguette really speaks to early millennial nostalgia from the origins of the It bag,” Koffsky Parker noted. “The Fendi Baguette was designed in 1997, so next year marks a major anniversary for the bag.”

Some pieces in the auction were originally included in the Elizabeth Taylor collection sale in 2011: “They have come back again 15 years later, which shows how collectors have embraced handbags as these special, wonderful objects that are worthy not only of appreciation but of coming back to the market again and again.”

Another model generating renewed demand is the Hermès JPG Shoulder Birkin from the Jean Paul Gaultier era. Gaultier served as Hermès’s creative director from 2003 until 2010, during which he reimagined many classic models as limited-edition pieces. Like the Birkin, the JPG Shoulder Birkin features a belt-style closure, a turn lock, a lock and a clochette, but the shape is elongated into a large east-west format measuring 42 centimeters across, with two shoulder straps. “When I picture this bag, I picture early 2000s celebrities with this big Shoulder Birkin slouched over their arm,” Koffsky Parker said.

For many years, the style fell out of favor, considered a less desirable model, but interest has now surged remarkably. The Shiny Rose Tyrien Porosus Crocodile JPG Shoulder Birkin 42 offered at Christie’s Hong Kong on May 25, 2026, sold for HKD 1,905,000—about $243,000—12.5 times its pre-sale estimate of HKD 150,000-220,000. Christie’s is now offering a 2009 Curry leather example in New York with an estimate of $7,000-9,000.

Fashion jewelry appears in handbag sales rather than jewelry sales because Christie’s jewelry sales focus on precious materials and stones, while fashion jewelry—such as Chanel costume jewelry made with glass beads or imitation pearls—is valued more for its design, creativity and fashion history. “It has a lot to do with the difference in materials and also the difference in makers and markets,” Koffsky Parker clarified. The current sale features examples ranging from the 1930s to today, with prices starting at $100. “What is really exciting about the fashion jewelry is that the prices are very reasonable and attractive. We have costume jewelry from the 1930s all the way up to today, and there are some really special pieces of both signed and unsigned Chanel jewelry in particular that are remarkable, very colorful, ornate, fashionable and hard to find on the market.”

When asked how trend cycles in the secondary market are shaped, Koffsky Parker acknowledged that it works much like everything today: a combination of celebrity influence, runway activity, Instagram, Substack, influencers, auction records and a newly accessible culture of fashion education. Social media, she said, has significantly lowered traditional barriers to information, allowing collectors to learn about niche vintage models without access to archives or formal fashion-history training. “Once you had to have access to libraries where they had Vogue archives or auction archives, or had to study fashion history.”

All those traditional barriers have come down. Koffsky Parker recalled being a high school student visiting costume exhibitions at the Met and wanting to buy the exhibition catalogs, but they were often too expensive. “Today, the information is really at your fingertips. If you have a genuine interest, you can learn about a niche piece of fashion history. There is an incredible audience and a real insatiable interest in learning, which is wonderful.”

A bright pink crocodile Hermès Birkin-style handbag is shown against a white background with silver-toned hardware and a hanging lock. — A Shiny Rose Tyrien Porosus Crocodile JPG Shoulder Birkin 42 fetched 10 times its low estimate in Hong Kong on May 25, 2026, to sell for HKD 1,905,000. CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2026

The boundaries between fashion and art have also collapsed. “Fashion is rightfully considered an art, and fashion designers are artists,” Koffsky Parker argued. “They are telling stories, crafting narratives and fantasies, and are true experts in their field. I would say that has been embraced by society.” One need only look to the Met and the growing number of fashion exhibitions at museums around the world to see how fashion has been embraced as an integral part of contemporary culture.

For new handbag buyers approaching the market, Koffsky Parker explained that key valuation factors are brand, model, material, condition and rarity—not identical to the factors used in jewelry or art, but with many similar characteristics. “If you are starting your journey as a collector, and you may not even consider yourself a collector yet, I would really think about what you are going to use and love the most. These are functional objects. They should be enjoyed and loved. If you take very good care of your handbags, purchase something you have done the research on and feel that it will fit within your life, hopefully you will have it for many, many years.”

She also encouraged buyers to research carefully, seek additional images or videos, buy from trusted sources and treat anything that seems too good to be true as a warning sign. The transparency offered by the auction market is a key advantage over the many resale platforms now available for secondhand fashion, according to Koffsky Parker. Additionally, auctions are public, bidding can be viewed as it happens online or in a saleroom, and results remain published online so buyers can see what a piece sold for years later.

Auction records, essays, videos and specialist content have also helped build awareness around rarity, materials, colors and models, effectively writing and archiving the recent history of fashion in real time. “We take our role as specialists very seriously,” Koffsky Parker added. “We are passionate experts. We love telling the stories behind bags, showing them the inside and looking at details like the color of the lining. It is the same as when an Impressionist specialist takes a painting off the wall and shows you the back. At the end of the day, we are deep, true lovers and fans of these pieces, and we love sharing any information we have.”