Vintage classics and secret sales: Why the luxury handbag market is booming

“We don’t sell handbags or haute couture,” Alan Wertheimer, Chanel’s chairman once said. “We sell dreams.” And while at its core the handbag is still a utility piece, at its heart it is something entirely different.

The French stalwarts Hermès and Louis Vuitton are credited with reimagining the practical saddlebag, for instance, creating designer luggage for discerning patrons. Each iteration became smaller, moving from holdall to handbag. More recently, in the Sex and the City ...