In the early 2000s, designer It bags were as sought after as the celebrities paparazzi-ed while carrying them. Recall the Balenciaga City bag, which launched in 2001, and your mind will be flooded with iconic street style moments from Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Nicole Richie, and Kate Moss. Reminisce about the Fendi Spy bag or the Chloé Paddington, and you’ll likely remember Lindsay Lohan, Sarah Jessica Parker, Gwen Stefani, Nicky Hilton, and Kate Bosworth toting their coveted carry-alls to-and-from lunch dates. And while not every handbag (or celebrity) has staying power, the fashion industry loves an accessory revival.
For luxury brands, reissuing old It bags seems to be the current hyperfixation.
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Model walking the Louis Vuitton spring/summer 2003 show.
“What we’ve seen over the last several years is a powerful wave of nostalgia for the nineties and early aughts,” says Kelly McSweeney, Senior Merchandising Manager at The RealReal. “And many key silhouettes from these eras were on the table as potential next It bags.” It’s a tale is as old as time: Everything in fashion comes back around—whether we want it to or not. But when it comes to designer handbags, re-edition culture is a bit more calculated than the resurgence of low-rise jeans or ballet flats.
“Brands are reissuing iconic bags not only out of nostalgia, but also as a way to reinforce and celebrate the house’s identity,” says Vestiaire Collective Fashion Director, Sophie Hersan. “Many of these iconic bags have proven to be a good investment that hold their value. Reissuing them allows brands to tap into a demand often sparked by the second-hand market. That said, opting for the original version keeps being the best deal in terms of affordability.”
Allows us to share the receipts: The most recent round of re-editions kicked off with the return of Balenciaga’s Le City bag back in April of last year. The brand delighted It girls and insiders alike with a campaign starring Kate Moss (one of the bag’s original fans), Nicole Kidman, and Amelia Gray, among others. Later the Demna Gvasalia-helmed label added Chinese actress and singer Yang Chaoyue and Korean musician Juyeon, expanding the campaign’s international reach. What’s more, a group shot of Dixie D’Amelio, Devon Lee Carlson, and Justine Skye went viral on social media.
The need for nostalgia continued in December 2024 and into January 2025, when Louis Vuitton announced that its early aughts collaboration with Japanese artist Takashi Murakami would return with a limited number of pieces in the highly recognizable multicolor monogram and cherry blossom prints. Just two months later, Marc Jacobs (who was responsible for the original LV x TM collab in 2003) brought back another one of his famed designs: the Stephen Sprouse graffiti print. The neon graphic that first appeared on Louis Vuitton Speedy and Neverfull totes back in 2001, was now splattered across Jacobs’ own Tote Bags.
“It seems that 10 to 20 years is a common sweet spot for a style to move from ‘in’ to ‘out’ and then potentially back into the ‘re-edition’ or ‘resurgence’ phase,” says McSweeney. “This timeframe allows enough distance for a style to feel fresh and novel again, rather than simply ‘dated.’ It also coincides with a generation coming of age who may have admired these bags in their youth, now having the disposable income and desire to own them.”
Hersan agrees. “Generally, it takes around 10 to 15 years for a handbag to be considered for a Re-Edition,” she says. ”Of course, this timeline can vary based on factors like changes in creative direction, which often influence the desirability and comeback of specific models.”
This was exactly the case for Chloé’s latest re-edition. The French house brought back its lock-adorned Paddington Bag (which originally debuted in 2005) this past March, shortly after Chemena Kamali was appointed Creative Director. A few days prior, Fendi followed suit and unearthed its beloved Spy Bag (also born in 2005). The popular Instagram account @Y2Kbags (managed by creator Alejandro) posted a caption that read, “Not to be dramatic, but my eyes got watery while watching the show! The handbag resurgence across brands has been a bit unhinged, but to be honest, I’ve been eating it up—and I don’t want it to end!”
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Gwyneth Paltrow carrying the original Celine Phantom.
Alejandro certainly got his wish. The Fall/Winter 2025 season was indeed not the last to bear witness to a designer handbag revival. Just last month, Michael Rider made his long-anticipated debut at Celine alongside the return of another early-aughts accessory favorite, the Phantom bag. First launched in 2011 under the direction of Phoebe Philo, the Phantom was in heavy rotation for A-listers like Rihanna, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kim Kardashian. And now we all wait with bated breath to see which lucky celeb will be the first to step out in its latest iteration.
As creative directors continue to dip into the archives, it’s worth getting to the bottom of this wave of old bags made new. “Re-editions are a smart merchandising move, both speaking to the brand’s DNA but also in some cases just strategically ‘reading the room’ as vintage and secondhand fashion have skyrocketed in reach over the last decade,” says McSweeney. “Consumers are telling brands what they want as they wear past versions and drive up demand for the items—making it a ripe time to reintroduce these into the market.”
The data supports this theory. According to The RealReal’s recent analysis, Balenciaga City Bag searches are up 110% year over year, while Chloé’s Paddington and Fendi’s Spy are up 339% and 61% respectively. Searches for the Celine Phantom surged in early July, up 360% month over month following Rider’s debut Spring 2026 show.
For Vestiaire Collective, the numbers tell a similar story. “We first started seeing an uptick in searches for the Chloé Paddington bag last year attributed to the overall renewed interest in the brand when Chemena Kamali took over and re-introduced the style,” says Hersan. “This summer, we saw a ten-times increase in searches for the Celine Phantom after Michael Rider’s first show in July (compared to June) and the Balenciaga City bag is number one on our list of top bag searches.”
So what bag is next on the re-edition roster? “Just letting you all know, the 3.1 Phillip Lim Pashli is absolutely making a comeback,” says Alejandro. “I’ve been spotting it everywhere—from downtown to uptown. That bag is definitely on the verge of a resurgence.” First introduced in 2011 and worn by Hollywood’s finest, including Jessica Alba, Blake Lively, and Emma Roberts, the structured style with its signature zippers has already resurfaced on the brand’s website. And it’s only a matter of time before shoppers and insiders are clawing after the originals on The RealReal and Vestiaire Collective.
“Most bags that were hot at one point and then faded out tend to make a comeback,” says Alejandro. “Because once a hot bag, always a hot bag.”
Read the original article on InStyle
