In a world where fashion can feel like being on a dizzying carousel of micro-trends and fast-fashion dupes, the antidote is simple: heritage luxury brands.
With shoppers abandoning a consumer culture that encourages buying dozens of inexpensive, trendy silhouettes in unsustainable materials, they’re turning back to heritage brands for guidance on styles that will stand the test of time.
The result is a renaissance of beautifully made investment pieces that will be worn season after season.
What is a heritage luxury brand?
You might be asking, ‘what exactly makes a brand ‘heritage’? Simply put, a heritage fashion brand is an established designer label that has existed for decades – or even centuries. (Hermes is nearly 200 years old!) These brands have built a reputation on craftsmanship, luxury, creativity and status.
Oftentimes, they have signature styles and hardware that are reinvented or expanded upon each season. Vintage items carry clout, becoming collectible instead of disposable.
When it comes to heritage bags, think: Coach and its 1970s Tabby or even Longchamp’s Le Pliage, which emerged in the ’90s.
Why heritage luxury is having a moment
Part of the renewed appetite for heritage brands is born from sheer trend exhaustion. Amid the proliferation of fast-fashion, pieces with history and craft are suddenly more desirable than a viral ‘bag of the month’.
The quiet luxury movement has only accelerated this shift. In a fashion landscape where new labels are constantly launching, heritage brands carry the kind of authority that can’t be duped or manufactured. Their point-of-difference is decades of proven prestige, recognisable design codes and buyer trust that cannot be built overnight.
In fact, the most interesting heritage revivals are not necessarily coming from the most obvious luxury giants. Shoppers are rediscovering labels with subtler codes and quiet cachet.
Piggybacking on this shift, heritage brands are constantly reinventing their archival designs to become newly relevant and slightly different for the needs of the modern shopper.
The heritage luxury brands leading the revival
1. Coach
Coach is the definition of the Comeback Kid. In a luxury landscape long dominated by European leather houses, Coach carved out its own distinctly American proposition. Founded in New York in 1941, the brand built its reputation on durable leather crafted into quietly stylish and practical bags for the working woman.
Under Creative Director Stuart Vevers, Coach revived the Tabby in 2019, later giving the archival silhouette a rugged upgrade by crafting it in their signature natural grain leather.
Beyond just a viral handbag moment, social media became awash with praise for the brand’s rediscovered craftsmanship. In fact, widely followed leather expert Tanner Leatherstein, who dissects luxury leather handbags and rates them based on leather quality and construction, hailed the brand saying:
“It’s one of the best brands out there. It gives you really good-quality leather, quality craftsmanship for an insanely good price. I’m a fan and customer of their main work.”
2. Chloe
Chloé is another brand in the grips of a renaissance. The label was originally founded by Gaby Aghion in 1952, and for its first collection, Chloé offered an alternative to the stiff couture of its contemporaries at the time.
More recently, the brand’s revival under Chemena Kamali has made once-maligned boho fashions feel sensual and expensive again. Suddenly, a floaty blouse, a slouchy bag, the humble wedge sandal, and bell-bottom jeans are returning to the zeitgeist.
The brand’s Paddington handbag, which first launched in the 2000s under the creative direction of Phoebe Philo, has roared back into favour among fashionistas. Revived with its classic slouchy silhouette and iconic padlock hardware, the Paddington is the poster child for Chloé’s youthful revival.
3. Longchamp
Longchamp is another heritage luxury brand that is enjoying its own revival arc. Founded in 1948, Longchamp’s Le Pliage bag has been carried by everyone from The Princess of Wales to Kendall Jenner, Lila Moss, Alexa Chung and Dianna Agron. And while for some, the Le Pliage never went out of style, the humble tote quickly gained a new generation of fans on TikTok as the ultimate ‘quiet luxury’ accessory.
But it’s not just the Le Pliage having its moment in the sun. The Le Roseau hones in the brand’s focus on high-quality leather paired with thoughtful and unique design features such as its signature bamboo clasp.
If Le Pliage is the stylish bag you throw everything into before running for a train, Le Roseau is where you keep your best lipstick and favourite perfume for a night out.
4. Ferragamo
Ferragamo is another heritage house enjoying new relevance by returning to its heritage codes. Long associated with Hollywood glamour and immutable Italian craftsmanship, under Maximilian Davis, the brand has had fresh life breathed into it.
The Hug bag is the clearest example of Ferragamo’s revival. Although it’s not an archival piece, it has all the hallmarks of heritage potential thanks to its recognisable hardware, Italian leather craft and a nostalgic top-handle finish.
5. Mulberry
Mulberry is further confirmation that there’s truly an appetite for nostalgic It-bags with real leather-goods credibility. The British brand has long been a go-to for practical women who favour quiet craftsmanship over gaudy logo brandishing. The Bayswater, the Alexa and the Lily have long been flagship favourites with timeless appeal.
However, it was the return of the brand’s Roxanne bag that has piqued interest in the label. First launched in the 2000s and recently revived in a full family of new shapes and colours, the bulky front pockets, brass buckles, rich leather and an implied ‘indie sleaze’ attitude make it exactly the kind of archival revival that has tapped into the moment.
6. Burberry
It’s difficult to think that a brand like Burberry was ever in need of a resurgence, but the over-saturation of its signature Burberry check led to a dip in popularity.
Under Daniel Lee, who became Chief Creative Officer in 2022, the brand made the conscious decision to abandon risky, ‘trendy’ directions in favour of its heritage pieces. Cue us all flocking back to the Burberry house codes: classic trenches, check scarves, equestrian hardware, rainy-day outerwear and leather bags that feel true to the brand’s original ethos.
What successful heritage brands are getting right
The heritage brands succeeding right now aren’t just relying on their name. Here’s what’s really setting them apart from their contemporaries:
- Using longevity as authority: A brand with decades of recognisable design history has an advantage over new labels and that is having decades of success and cemented iconography in terms of silhouette, logo or recognisable design assets.
- Quality and craftsmanship: In a market saturated with dupes and fast-fashion lookalikes, good leather, solid hardware, strong silhouettes and recognisable house details become attractive to quality-savvy shoppers.
- Returning to roots: Whether it’s Burberry’s return to trenches and checks, Coach’s return to functional leather bags or Chloé’s embrace of their boho roots. The heritage brands that are winning at the moment haven’t turned their back on their own ethos.
How Coach re-invented itself for a new generation
Coach’s reinvention worked because it did not abandon what made the brand appealing in the first place. Instead, it went back to its archives and focused on timelessly cool, functional handbags with enough nostalgia to feel familiar and enough newness to feel current.
The bag that cemented the revival was the Tabby 26: a modern take on a ’70s archival design re-worked with the brand’s signature hardware, structured shape and multiple strap options. It was quickly snapped up by Gen Z fashion aficionados (including Yours Truly) and, thanks to its timeless silhouette, is bound to be a future heirloom piece.
Coach continued its archive-led momentum when the Kisslock Barrel Bag made its debut at the brand’s Spring 2026 show at New York Fashion Week. The capacious purse with a brass kisslock closure, an ode to the humble vintage coin purse, immediately sold out and became one of the most talked-about accessories from the collection.
Which heritage brands have the most staying power?
Of all the heritage luxury brands enjoying a resurgence right now, Chloé is leading the charge. Under Chemena Kamali, the brand has gone from being an almost-forgotten heritage label to single-handedly making boho relevant again. Look to any high street brand right now and you’ll undoubtedly spy a Chloé-coded blouse, a cork wedge sandal or a slouchy hobo bag. The brand has evolved beyond staging a comeback, they’re tastemakers.
For younger shoppers, however, Coach has arguably built the most loyal base. Its return feels most impressive because it reinvented its coolness without abandoning relative accessibility. The Tabby, Brooklyn, Empire and Kisslock bags combine recognisable design with strong leather-goods credibility and prices that still feel more attainable than many European luxury houses.
That is the ultimate sweet spot for heritage luxury now. It’s not good enough to be the oldest and the loudest brand on the market, it’s the ones that are in tune with their own history and the appetite of fashion-lovers that is paving the way for the golden age of heritage revival.
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