Luxury Unfiltered: How Gen Z is turning the Birkin into Wall Street’s hottest commodity

May 7, 2025

Daniel Langer is the founder and CEO of consulting firm Équité

In a remarkable twist that underscores how deeply the luxury world is changing, the Hermès Birkin bag, the world’s most iconic purse, is now going viral on TikTok not as a fashion statement, but as an investment vehicle.

Across social media, Gen Z creators are touting the Birkin as a more stable and lucrative asset than the stock market, with videos walking viewers through how to buy, flip and profit from this ultra-exclusive handbag. Some even share how friendship groups pool savings to acquire a Birkin together: an investment club, but with leather and heritage instead of equities and ETFs.

While Hermès has long benefited from its mystique and tight control over distribution, this surge of speculative interest is creating both opportunity and danger.

Long-term luxury
On one hand, the financialization of the Birkin affirms Hermès’ dominance as the pinnacle of brand equity. On the other hand, it raises critical questions about access and long-term brand desirability in a world where social media can instantly transform a cultural icon into a commodity bubble.

To understand the moment, we must first acknowledge the extraordinary value creation Hermès has achieved. Few brands in any industry can match the emotional resonance and symbolic power of the Birkin.

I have written and have been interviewed extensively about the psychology behind the Birkin and its exceptional storytelling, which unlocks a perceived value no other bag has been able to match so far. For decades, Hermès has resisted the pull of mass luxury, choosing instead to build scarcity, mystery and craft into every detail of its brand.

There is no flashy advertising blitz around the Birkin. No influencer gifting. No discounts.

The bag is not even available for online or walk-in purchase. Everything about it signals restraint, elevation and the ultimate reward for those who understand and can access its world. It is luxury in its purest form: emotional, intangible and aspirational.

But in the age of TikTok and Gen Z’s redefinition of wealth and access, that meaning is undergoing a dramatic shift. For many young consumers, particularly women, but also increasingly men, the Birkin now represents not just taste, but financial empowerment. It’s a tangible asset in a world of intangibles, a counter to volatile markets. Gen Z isn’t just buying the Birkin for style points.

Many are buying it for its resale value, scarcity and perceived security. Some even describe it as a hedge against inflation.

This development, while fascinating, is also fraught with risk. The moment a luxury item becomes too heavily tied to speculation, it runs the risk of losing the emotional depth that made it desirable in the first place.

Holding the line
A Birkin isn’t a stock ticker. It is, or should be, a deeply personal object tied to identity, aspiration and emotion. When the conversation shifts to yield curves and ROI, we are no longer in the realm of dreams and can easily enter the territory of commodities.

The question then becomes: can Hermès, and other luxury brands facing similar trends, retain the integrity of their storytelling when their products are treated as assets first, and emotional objects second? Some watch brands have been facing a similar challenge as the post-pandemic demand and price hype is significantly cooling.

So far, Hermès has shown remarkable discipline in holding the line. The brand’s refusal to increase production to meet soaring demand, its control over distribution, and its careful cultivation of rarity all serve to protect the Birkin’s aura.

Yet the surge in resale, often driven by buyers who never intended to keep the item, creates a shadow market that Hermès cannot fully control. Platforms like The RealReal and Privé Porter further amplify the perception of the Birkin as a financial instrument, with some listings reaching astronomical prices and touting “appreciation” charts more fitting for tech stocks than handbags.

This speculative frenzy also risks undermining a core aspect of luxury: that desirability must always feel earned, never transactional. The deeper meaning of a Birkin lies in the journey: waiting, building a relationship with a boutique and demonstrating understanding of the brand’s world.

When that is replaced by instant gratification through resale or profit-chasing, something intangible is lost. Moreover, the hype cycle driven by social media is inherently unstable.

What is desirable one day can feel overexposed the next. If the Birkin becomes too visible, too associated with speculation, it may lose the quiet exclusivity that has long made it powerful.

Hermès’ hot commodity
Luxury brands live and die by perception. And perception, especially among Gen Z, can change in an instant.

The Birkin’s transformation into a viral “investment” also highlights a broader insight about the state of luxury today: Gen Z is redefining value. For this generation, luxury is not about ownership alone.

It’s rather about access, meaning, return, and storytelling. A luxury object must now play multiple roles: aesthetic, emotional, social, cultural, and financial.

Brands that understand this multidimensional expectation will be able to entice the next generation. Those that cling to outdated definitions of status may find themselves caught off guard.

Ultimately, the Birkin’s rise as a “quasi Wall Street darling” on TikTok is not a story of Hermès losing control. It’s a story of luxury’s evolving meaning.

But brands must tread carefully. The moment a luxury item becomes primarily about financial speculation, it loses its soul, and soul is the very thing that makes luxury worth desiring in the first place.

Luxury Unfiltered is a weekly column by Daniel Langer. He is the CEO of Équité, a global luxury strategy and creative brand activation firm, where he is the advisor to some of the most iconic luxury brands. He is recognized as a global top-five luxury key opinion leader. He serves as the executive professor of luxury strategy and pricing at Pepperdine University in Malibu and as a professor of luxury at New York University, New York. Dr. Langer has authored best-selling books on luxury management in English and Chinese and is a respected global keynote speaker.

Dr. Langer conducts masterclass management training on various luxury topics around the world. As a luxury expert featured on Bloomberg TV, Financial Times, The New York Times, Forbes, The Economist and others, Mr. Langer holds an MBA and a Ph.D. in luxury management and has received education from Harvard Business School. Follow him on LinkedIn and Instagram, and listen to his Future of Luxury Podcast.

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