Business Finance Media Technology Policy Wealth Insights Interviews

Art Art Fairs Art Market Art Reviews Auctions Galleries Museums Interviews

Lifestyle Nightlife & Dining Style Travel Interviews

Power Lists Nightlife & Dining Art A.I. PR

About About Observer Advertise With Us Reprints

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

She's seen sales of Hermès, archival Chanel, Fendi Baguettes and fashion jewelry bringing a younger generation of collectors into the broader auction market.

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.

Sign Up For Our Daily Newsletter

Thank you for signing up!

By clicking submit, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge we may use your information to send you emails, product samples, and promotions on this website and other properties. You can opt out anytime.

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........

© Observer