Luxury brand Hermès will hike US prices from next month to offset the cost of Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The French fashion house’s colorful scarves and iconic Birkin handbags are beloved by celebrities including Jennifer Lopez, Victoria Beckham and the Kardashians.
The handmade bag, named after English-French actor and singer Jane Birkin, is already one of the world’s most expensive fashion items.
It can’t be bought off the shelf – customers typically need a strong purchase history with Hermès just to be offered one.
There there are no more than 200,000 in circulation, which means the bag also has an extremely high resale value.
A Birkin bag starts at around $9,000 for basic versions, but prices can soar well into six figures for rarer models.
Hermès said prices will rise from May 1 and aim to ‘fully offset’ the impact of Trump’s 10 percent universal tariff implemented earlier this month.
‘This increase will be just for the US,’ said Eric du Halgouët, the brand’s finance chief, on Thursday. ‘It’s aimed at offsetting tariffs that only apply to the American market.’
He said other regions won’t see a change – at least for now.
If the White House increases the tariff from 10 to 20 percent as it has threatened after the 90 day day delay, prices could go up even further.
It comes after Hermès overtook rival LVMH earlier this week to become the world’s biggest luxury firm by market capitalization.
LVMH, which owns Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co, Dior and beauty chain Sephora, reported an unexpected decline in first quarter sales on Tuesday.
The conglomerate, which is run by the billionaire Arnault family, also tried unsuccessfully to acquire Hermes a decade ago.
The Hermès Birkin bag is an enduring status symbol, and can reach staggering prices on the resale market. In 2022, auction house Sotheby’s sold a ‘Diamond Himalaya’ Birkin for over $450,000.
In 2024, Walmart produced a bag which looked strikingly similar to a Birkin for just $78.
The bag, dubbed the ‘Wirkin,’ went viral, but was later removed from the retailer’s website.
Hermès CEO Axel Dumas said earlier this year he was ‘irritated’ by the ‘Walmart Birkin’, adding that the French luxury brand takes counterfeiting ‘very seriously.’
It comes as Americans are facing increasing costs for a whole host of products as a result of the President’s sweeping tariff plan.
Although Trump has put larger levies on hold for now, a 10 percent baseline tariff on goods from 60 countries is still in place.
Clothes, shoes and cars will be impacted, alongside food, alcohol, and many other essentials.
According to the Yale Budget Lab, the average American household will pay $3,800 more a year as a result of the levies.
Analysts have predicted the luxury sector will be less impacted by tariffs than other retailers due to their ability to pass on steeper costs to high-income customers, CNBC reported.
However, they too would encounter major headwinds if there is a larger consumer pullback off the back of recession fears.
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