The Handbag Clinic’s founder on making luxury handbags last a lifetime, working with Claudia Schiffer, and why you should never buy faux

In the world of collectibles, investing in luxury handbags is fast becoming a lucrative business. 

Since opening the doors to The Handbag Clinic on King’s Road in 2015, Charlotte Staerck has seen a dramatic shift in the marketplace with cult and vintage preloved handbags fetching higher prices than ever.

“You’ll never see brands such as Louis Vuitton and Chanel mark down their products and Hermès limit their sales to a very exclusive clientele so buying pre-owned, especially for vintage and cult bags, is the canny and sustainable loophole,” the CEO and Co-Founder told HELLO!.

Charlotte purchased her first named-brand handbag when she was a teenager. She kept it in immaculate condition, sold it, and made a profit, which she then used to purchase her next designer bag. She was unknowingly contributing to the circular fashion movement, flipping and thrifting bags long before it became mainstream. 

“I was obsessed with designer handbags but I couldn’t afford them. I started small, using all my savings to buy a DKNY bag. I then realised you can get really smart with it. If you buy and sell at the right times, you can always make money on your handbags.”

In conversation with HELLO!, Charlotte reveals why it’s always better to buy pre-loved rather than faux, how to get savvy with sustainable bag shopping, and the time Claudia Schiffer knocked on The Handbag Clinic’s doors…

You opened The Handbag Clinic nearly 10 years ago. Have you noticed an increase in more people investing in vintage handbags and pre-owned luxury items? 

Massively. When we first started The Handbag Clinic, there was a huge stigma associated with shopping pre-owned. People would always question why I would thrift old bags rather than buy new, whereas now everyone is so invested in sustainable fashion and can see the value in these items. 

Since 2020, I’ve seen a major growth in the sustainable fashion movement and a major increase in the number of people who are comfortable shopping pre-owned.

You traded your DKNY bag for an Hermès Kelly, one of the rarest and most expensive Hermès bags. How did you do it?

When I was younger, all I wanted was a Mulberry Bayswater. Growing up in Newcastle, I didn’t have a major exposure to luxury fashion, so Mulberry was the pinnacle for us. 

When Gucci Marmont bags first came out, I bought one for £625. I used it for a year and then sold it once they became popular, and I had made a significant profit. I view my handbags like an asset, and I tend to use a ‘handbag pot’ and very rarely will I go outside of that to try and acquire new bags. 

Even to this day, I will sell a few bags in order to get another. To get my Hermès Kelly, my favourite bag, I sold five bags from my collection and then only needed to put a small amount of additional money towards it. 

I’m always reviewing my wardrobe, assessing what I’m wearing at the moment, and what is working for me in my life. Our fashion and interests change as we get older, and so do our handbags. 

I’ll ask myself ‘have I got this handbag out of my wardrobe in the last six months?’ I went from DKNY, to Mulberry, to Prada, to Gucci, and eventually I got my first Chanel, before finally getting an Hermès. 

What is the difference between cleaning and restoring a bag?

A handbag clean is for hygiene purposes. A clean will not visually make your bag look better unless you’ve spilt something on it and brought it in quickly enough to reverse the damage. 

For example, I just came back from a holiday and took several bags away with me. The first thing I’ll do before putting them back in the wardrobe, is give them a clean, apply our protectant treatment, and then put them away. That avoids the chance of any bacteria on the bag turning into mould, or any oils or grease that could turn into staining. 

Leather is a skin, so handbag cleaning is essentially skin care for our handbags. It needs to be cleansed and moisturised regularly to get the best wear out of it. Restoration is to restore a damaged, aged or discoloured bag. 

At The Handbag Clinic, we offer everything from stain removal to full bag reconstruction. We only ever do work that is absolutely necessary for the bag because you only ever want to work as little as possible on the bag to add to its value and look.

What is your favourite piece that you’ve worked on at The Handbag Clinic?

Claudia Schiffer contacted us after she had been turned away by the brand at the time because they couldn’t help with her specific request. Often, brands aren’t equipped to offer extensive repairs and restoration services for vintage handbags like we can. 

We did these vanity cases that she had actually shot the campaign for back in the early 1990s. We didn’t have any agreement with her to post on social media, but she did the most incredible post and was so grateful of her experience with The Handbag Clinic. 

The items were bright pink, patent leather vanity cases from the 1995 Chanel Spring runway “Barbie” collection, as seen on Claudia and other iconic supermodels.

What is your opinion on fast fashion brands creating dupes of luxury items? 

I have no problem with fast fashion brands creating dupes of high end items. At the end of the day, the catwalk leads the high street. That is fashion, and it’s how it should be. 

People should feel empowered regardless of whether they’re carrying an Hermès or a Marks and Spencer lookalike. We see so many faux designer bags come through our doors, and it is my mission to end the fake designer market.

I’d much rather someone was wearing an H&M dupe of the Bottega Venetta cassette bag, or the Marks & Spencer lookalike Hermès Kelly, because that is in their price budget, rather than someone wearing an awful replica made from plastics that is falling apart at the seams. 

I know to the untrained eye, faux bags can be really convincing, but I can spot them from a mile off. Everyone should look great in their lane, buying a replica bag is a criminal act at the end of the day. 

I’d recommend people buy pre-loved bags 100 times over rather than buying a fake bag. They can be an investment, so let’s show people they can be. 

If you wanted a vintage bag and you were on a budget, where would you start?

You can often pick things up in charity shops. The Handbag Clinic has an authentication service so that anyone can get their bags checked. eBay is also doing great things in the luxury space, you just have to be extra careful when shopping on these sites that you’re completely confident in your purchase, because without a business behind the sale you can get caught out.

If you buy via The Handbag Clinic, you can sell back within the year and you’re guaranteed to make 70% of what you spent. It’s a lot easier to be sustainable when you’re shopping pre-loved and be thoughtful with your processes.  

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