Luxury Briefing: LVMH men’s shows are heavy in handbags as leather goods sales slow

The men’s fall 2024 shows, currently rolling out in Paris, have been heavy in handbags. That’s especially true of shows by brands owned by LVMH, which in October reported a quarterly revenue increase for its fashion and leather goods division of 9% year-over-year. That fell short of analysts’ expectations of 10–11% growth. 

For example, out of the 81 looks in Pharrell’s fall 2024 men’s show for Louis Vuitton, which played out on Tuesday, 73 featured a handbag or trunk. And of those, three featured multiple bag styles. Out of the eight looks styled without a bag or trunk, three featured an alternative leather accessory, such as a bound notebook or a held pair of gloves. 

Meanwhile, every look in the show of LVMH-owned Fendi seemed to feature a bag or two, though a few proved to be portable speakers created in collaboration with Devialet Mania. And 25 of Dior Homme’s 60 looks featured bags – again, some multiple. Bags were also seen in around 38 of Kenzo’s 61 looks, 10 of Givenchy’s 34 and 21 of Loewe’s 55, excluding a repeated waist pouch that mimicked the base of a hoodie. LVMH, which reports its full-year 2023 earnings on Thursday, did not comment on time for this story.

Overall, according to Bain, growth in the luxury leather goods market slowed in 2023, to 3-4%, after overperformance in recent years. Sales volumes decreased for the first time in the decade, with the growth being owed to price increases.

LVMH isn’t the only company pushing men’s bags for fall 2024. Among Kering brands, 38 of 56 looks in last week’s Gucci show featured bags. In its most recent earnings report, in October, Kering reported a disappointing decline in its overall quarterly sales, of 9% year-over-year. Prada, meanwhile, featured bags in 12 of 49 looks, and nearly half of Giorgio Armani’s 81 looks were accessorized with a crossbody bag or duffel.

Handbags showing up in menswear shows is nothing new, but the growing number is significant. For its part, LVMH has gradually increased their presence, showing bags in 56 of 69 men’s looks for fall 2023 and 63 of 71 for spring 2024. And merchandising-out a runway lineup has been done, but we’re arguably approaching peak accessories. See: Balenciaga’s co-ed December 2 show, overflowing with branded water bottles, coffee cups, phone cases, sunglasses and totes in the style of Erewhon shopping bags. 

The jumbo size of many of the new men’s bags is also worth noting, seeing as bigger bags typically come with a higher price tag. The trend took shape via styles introduced at the shows of Louis Vuitton, Gucci, JW Anderson, Fendi, S.S.Daley and Zegna, among others. 

Brands’ efforts to sell men’s bags have been working, though the impact on their bottom line has remained minimal. According to Beth Goldstein, footwear and fashion accessories analyst at Circana, sales of men’s bags — including handbags, totes, slings and fanny packs — grew 6% year-over-year in 2023, following double-digit growth in the two years prior. Compared to 2019, the category’s sales in 2023 were nearly double. 

But, she noted, “this is a very small market,” driving less than 1% of the sales volume of the women’s bag market. And unit sales have declined, with price increases driving the growth to date. Designer bags are the largest and highest growth segment of the men’s bag market, she said. 

“The growth is driven by a few factors, including the acceptance of handbags being carried by men and the availability of more gender-neutral styles,” Goldstein said. “Also, slimmer men’s pants cuts mean they can’t necessarily fit everything in their pockets.”

Along with Elordi, who seems to favor styles by Kering’s Bottega Veneta and LVMH’s Celine, the well-accessorized men fueling the trend include A$AP Rocky, Bad Bunny and the many athletes who have made a fashion statement out of cradling a designer dopp kit on game day.

“The rise of men’s bags post-pandemic is equivalent to the rise of women’s novelty bags; people are being bolder and taking more risks [with their style],” said Emily Blumenthal, founder of the Handbag Awards and industry expert. She credited men’s newfound comfort level with carrying bags to their recently adopted habit of expressing themselves through their choice of sneakers. And, she added, “The crazed trend of the genderless Lululemon belt bag has given license to many men who wouldn’t have historically worn a bag at all.” 

But, as for the men’s bags being paraded down recent runways, according to fashion commentator Hanan Besovic, the brands behind them may simply be tapping into a marketing opportunity and not targeting men at all. “They don’t read as menswear only,” he said in an Instagram video about the bags at Louis Vuitton. “If the strategy for Louis Vuitton menswear accessories is to cater to women, that’s actually pretty smart; that would be very lucrative.”