When Angela Hwang, a consultant for private equity companies based in Carmel, California, decided she wanted a Hermès Birkin bag, she watched YouTube videos and read the forums on the handbag website PurseBlog for tips. Hwang, who had previously purchased plates, silverware and scarves from the brand, had her heart set on a Birkin 35 in a neutral hue.
But she couldn’t just walk in and buy it. Hermès is known to offer its Birkin and Kelly bags intermittently, and usually to its most loyal clients. Analysis of how to play the “Hermès game” — going to a less trafficked store, forming a relationship with a sales associate or making the seemingly necessary purchases to be offered a bag, often not in a colour or size of your choosing — proliferate on Reddit and TikTok. Disdain for the selling practices even prompted two California residents to file an antitrust suit against Hermès in March. (Last year, Hermès told BoF it “strictly prohibits any sale of certain products as a condition to the purchase of others.”)
Hwang eventually decided to buy the exact item she wanted secondhand, despite the fact that it meant she might end up paying double the retail price.
“People were like ‘you weren’t patient enough,’ ‘why didn’t you do the journey?’ But it’s like, I just wanted the bag, I really like it, I want to buy it,” she said.
Hwang is part of a growing cohort of shoppers that’s going outside traditional channels to get their hands on fashion — and are willing to pay a premium to have what they want when they want it. Luxury runs on exclusivity, and because many brands produce their most covetable products in small quantities or save them for their most loyal shoppers, inevitably, not everyone can have what they want.
“The demand for a lot of these luxury products has escalated meaningfully, and the process by which a customer is able to walk into a store has changed,” said Geoff Hess, Sotheby’s global head of watches. “Buying those coveted models at retail has gotten very challenging and difficult across luxury.”
But shoppers are increasingly finding alternative ways to purchase luxury’s most coveted items. There are the big box resale shops like Fashionphile, Vestiaire Collective, Rebag and The RealReal; sector-specific stores like the watch-centric Watchfinder and Chrono24; and boutique sellers like Privé Porter and Jane Finds, both of which focus almost exclusively on Hermès. Meanwhile, auction houses are upping their investment in fashion, hosting events to sell rare handbags and watches to elite shoppers. Plus, a new wave of social media-native dealers, personal shoppers and self-described fashion “sourcers” are using their Instagram DMs to get shoppers not only storied bags, but the in-demand items of the moment like Alaia’s mesh flats and The Row’s Margaux carryall.
All these options cater to a consumer that can’t get access on their own or “can’t be bothered to go to a store and grovel to a salesperson,” said Privé Porter founder Michelle Berk. They’re a response to a growing sentiment among consumers who feel the traditional luxury purchasing experience is lacking in convenience and personalisation.
“[These shoppers] don’t care about spending the premium to get exactly what they want right now,” Berk said.
The rise of alternative paths to purchase also could have greater consequences for the industry at large. Luxury brands are facing competition in selling their own wares, as well as exposure in more channels. Brands need to find ways to engage new consumers after years of focusing on their top clients, said Joelle de Montgolfier, Bain & Company executive vice president, luxury, retail and consumer.
“[As a luxury brand] the less exclusive you are, the more problems you will have … The more you control your distribution, the more you work on the excitement for the brand, the more you work on luxury experiences, the easier your job will get,” said Frank Müller, founder of luxury consultancy The Bridge to Luxury.
What’s Driving Demand
Frustration with the luxury shopping experience has propelled the popularity of the fashion middle-man for everyone from aspirational shoppers to the top echelon of buyers.
This shift ramped up during the pandemic, as stores closed and shopping became more difficult, according to fashion sourcer Gab Waller. After stores reopened, shoppers found themselves having to queue outside — sometimes for hours — only to find that what they wanted wasn’t available, she said. Plus, forming relationships with various sales associates can be taxing, and sometimes intimidating.
“A client may go into a boutique and ask for something, and they get laughed at like ‘There’s not chance of [you] having that,’” said Waller. That sort of response leads people to think “why bother?” she added.
For others, doing the shopping themselves — whether scrolling online or working with sales associates in store — just isn’t appealing. Some sourcers have built a celebrity clientele: Waller works with stars including Sofia Richie Grainge and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.
“My clients prioritise privacy above all else, especially with their shopping record” said Nicole Pollard Bayme, a stylist and sourcer who goes by Lalaluxe on Instagram. She said her client list includes celebrities, heads of state, CEOs and even royalty. “They don’t want to be in stores, they don’t want the VIC experience. Their biggest luxury is their time and energy.”
For some shoppers, the reason to seek out alternative purchasing avenues is simple: They’re not getting what they want at retail. That might be because they’re after something that’s popular at the moment, like Miu Miu’s sneaker collaboration with New Balance. But they could also be a collector that is buying so much — Berk has a select few clients who spend upwards of $2 million a year on bags — that the brand alone can’t satisfy the demand. Privé Porter saw revenue rise 40 percent last year and opened a new store in Las Vegas in February. Berk said as bags get harder and harder to come by at retail, shoppers continue to pay higher and higher prices at resale.
“I don’t know where the limit is,” said Berk. “People that were paying $18,000 in 2018 are willing to pay $28,000 today for that same bag.”
Sourcing Ramps Up
There’s also more ways than ever for shoppers to get their hands on hard-to-get products, going beyond more traditional channels such as auction houses and resale sites like The RealReal. Most recently, a new generation of Instagram-native fashion sourcers and personal shoppers has sprung up to serve eager consumers after all sorts of items.
For most sourcers — who charge a finder’s fee — the journey begins in their Instagram DMs. When it’s an in-season item, they will reach out to a network of sales associates and stores to check back shelves. If it’s a piece a shopper can’t just buy at retail, like a Birkin, vintage piece or rare watch, they go out to a network of dealers, individual sellers and consignment shops. Some will acquire items they know will become popular ahead of time, like a Chanel flat with a distinctive texture or colour, said Christina Samano, a former Neiman Marcus sales associate.
Sourcers aren’t just hunting down Birkins and Rolexes. Waller says Chanel, Hermès and Miu Miu footwear are in demand, as is Loro Piana and The Row — particularly the Margaux bag. At one point last year, requests for Alaia flats made up 70 percent of requests on Sourcewhere, a UK-based app for finding top pieces, and Phoebe Philo-era Celine is always popular, said founder Erica Wright. New arrivals that bubble to the surface and sell out do so after a few influencers start posting them, they say.
Waller, who counts over 81,000 followers on Instagram, gets a minimum of 50 requests a day. Samano has 31,000 followers and says she can’t step away from her phone without being flooded with DMs. Sourcewhere is set to expand into the US in October.
The growing popularity of fashion sourcers — and the fact that Instagram is their place of business — has meant the sourcers themselves have become public figures. Michelle Lovelace, a stylist and personal shopper for celebrities, rose to fame securing the Birkin bags Kanye West gifted to then-girlfriend Julia Fox and her friends in 2022 while Waller signed with IMG earlier this year and contributes to Vogue.
Waller says she couldn’t do her job without strong relationships with brands; still, there’s a bit of resistance — especially among those who don’t distinguish between sourcers and resellers. Sourcers are filling a white space, said Wright, adding shoppers want more service when it comes to fashion.
“The luxury experience has become quite disjointed and more of a gamble,” said Wright. “A curated approach is what shoppers are seeking. They want to feel heard and to have a personalised experience.”
