Bag charms: Recession-proof way to flex personal style

SINGAPORE – It may have started with Labubus, but bag charms exploded into their own category of products in 2025.

From plushies to jewellery-inspired chains to beaded keychains to clip-on beauty products, you would be hard-pressed to find a tote on the streets not covered in trinkets and toys.

Accessorising one’s purse became the de facto way to express identity and personal style. Carrying the same bag at an event became less of a fashion faux pas when you “made” it your own.

Global luxury houses, too, gave their stamp of approval. Everyone from Louis Vuitton and Miu Miu to Balenciaga and Kate Spade embraced them – debuting on the runways bags studded with chains and charms that eventually found their way into stores.

Fast-fashion brands quickly caught on, some releasing designs where the charm is what sells the purse. In Singapore, a new wave of craft businesses offering

bag charms you can make yourself

sprouted.

No doubt, this trend is cyclical. Earlier in 2025, it was nicknamed “Jane Birkin-ifying” your bag – as a nod to the British actress and 1980s fashion icon’s penchant for over-accessorising her handbags.

Experts have chalked the accessory renaissance down to a number of factors: the post-pandemic yearning for nostalgic aesthetics, a desire for comfort and the growing kidult phenomenon – where adults embrace toys and collectibles for emotional comfort.

Globally, toy companies have reported that adults now account for a substantial portion of toy sales, with this market growing at approximately 10 per cent annually.

In an interview with Forbes, American public relations maven and author Emily Austen categorised bag charms as emotional collectibles that go beyond a decorative function – they affirm the wearer.

“Charms sit beautifully between fashion and fandom. They borrow the collectability and drop culture of sneakers, but filter it through emotion and personal meaning. They’re playful, affordable(ish) and portable – the accessory equivalent of a meme with main-character energy.”

In a content-first world, she added, your charm becomes part of your identity. “It’s an easy way for brands to create emotional products and for people to express themselves. At their core, charms are about personality.”

One look at a person’s charm stack, and you can discern if he or she is a goth, K-pop fan, Pop Mart collector or beauty junkie. Commodifying your personality has never been this cute.

But perhaps the biggest reason bag charms have taken off? These (mostly) pocket-size treasures are a lot cheaper than bigger-ticket luxuries, especially when one cannot afford to splurge in the current economy. It might not be prudent to buy a new handbag, but what is spending on one or two $25 Pop Mart plushies?

The mindset rings true across a breadth of purchasing power. In the luxury fashion world, it probably feels more forgivable to spend $1,000 on a Valentino charm than $5,000 on a handbag.

Bag charms sit neatly within this generation’s “little treat” culture of indulging in small luxuries.

On the rise since 2024, the Gen Z and millennial-focused phenomenon prizes finding joy and motivation through affordable, everyday indulgences – such as matcha, blind boxes, branded water bottles or lip gloss – as a coping mechanism for economic stress.

Consider it the modern-day version of the

Lipstick Effect

, the theory hypothesising that in an economic downturn, consumers will continue to spend on small luxuries like lipstick, in place of heftier purchases.

And retailers are already seeing opportunity. Even brands not conventionally in the handbag trade have jumped onboard with keyring collectibles of their own – to tap a portion of their customers’ disposable income.

If you cannot afford its jewels, Austrian crystal company Swarovski now makes crystal-studded charms. Local lingerie label Perk By Kate launched pastry-themed plushies as part of a pastry-inspired lingerie collection, while home-grown supplements brand Moom is teasing a pill container keychain as a gift-with-purchase at its new Great World City pop-up store.

As purse strings continue to tighten into the recessionary year, one thing is for certain – at least they will be well-accessorised.