Vintage-lovers on Louis Vuitton x Murakami
is now the time to buy, sell, or hold on the vintage?
Amidst this much-anticipated re-release, Pre-Loved brings subscribers expert insights on the intersection of vintage fashion and resale market trends.
I’m Emily Stochl, a secondhand fashion reporter 🎤 and this is Pre-Loved, an independent, go-to voice on all things vintage fashion.
Louis Vuitton has re-released its most-beloved collaboration, originally created in 2003 by Marc Jacobs and Takashi Murakami. These pop-art remixes of the LV monogram are historic — considered to be the first splashy fashion “collab.”
Intended as a limited-edition drop, the original release generated over $300 million in one year, and remained on-going until 2015, after Marc Jacobs departed Louis Vuitton.
Rumors reached PurseForum this summer that Louis Vuitton might re-release the styles for a 20th anniversary drop, and six months of hype and speculation followed. Around Thanksgiving, presumed collection photos leaked online.
And on December 3rd, Louis Vuitton officially posted, announcing the re-edition with brand ambassador, Zendaya, modeling.
With the re-edition, what do we make of the vintage Louis Vuitton x Murakami handbags? I went full-on investigative journalist, giving you data and community-driven insights for the enthusiasts, collectors, and vintage dealers alike.
Let’s throw it back: while these handbags have always had fans, there was no major resale price bump when they were discontinued in 2015, according to coverage at the time. This is when collector Tia, of @og_vintage7, bought her first piece for a bargain, when other’s considered the designs “outdated.” She writes:
“I was in high school when the collection first released in 2003, and I loved it, but couldn’t afford it at the time. It was the collection that made me fall in love with handbags. I remember seeing pictures of the bags in magazines and dreaming of owning them one day.”
The bag’s popularity perked up again in late 2018, after Kim Kardashian bought all the Kardashian-Jenners black Mini Speedys on a trip to Japan. Tabloids report Kim paid $1,100 each at the time, and even Stormi — not yet a year old! — received one that Christmas.
Since the Y2K resurgence of 2020, prices and popularity of the vintage bags have risen. Avelinda Garcia, senior authenticator at The RealReal, told NYLON, “we saw demand increase 37% compared to last year [2019].” Likewise:
“Vestiaire Collective says searches on its site for Louis Vuitton's multicolor bags doubled in the last two months, while StockX reports the bags are currently some of its best-selling limited-edition pieces.”
Now here’s the part where I tell you I’ve watched hundreds of videos from 2021-2024 of vintage Louis Vuitton x Murakami unboxings! 😅
We’re drawing on both first-hand accounts and resale platform price data here, to help you understand how the market is shifting.
And the prices found do range — as vintage does! — but, using the white Multicolor Pochette as our test-example, I regularly saw unboxings range from $800-$1,400USD. Several buyers mentioned lower prices, particularly “getting a deal” from Japanese eBay, or while travelling in Japan or Taiwan.
Most of Tia’s secondhand bags were under $1,000 when she purchased them, which she says, “is almost impossible to find now.”
How the re-editions will influence resale prices:
You can’t miss that price jump (chart above) in November 2024, when rumors of the re-release got hot. Indeed, that’s when — after seeing some leaked pictures on Instagram — Tia bought her white multicolor Mini-Speedy from Japanese eBay:
“I have had the black version for a few years and it is one of my favorite bags. I figured resale prices would soon go up on the pre-owned ones, so I decided to grab one before that happened…
… I am currently hunting for a multicolor black Pochette and already notice the prices are significantly higher than they were a few months ago.”
Amongst luxury-handbag-lovers, like Rachel from Handbag Addict, the assumption was that Louis Vuitton would release a ton of product for this hot re-edition. And there definitely was a lot of SKU-variety in this first “chapter,” of — at least! — three drops.
As with many luxury brands, Louis Vuitton’s price has skyrocketed, and there’s a ‘nostalgia charge’ on re-editions. The price for the new Pochette is $2,100, the Nano Speedy is $2,270, the Alma BB is $2,830, and the Speedy 30 is a whopping $4,300!
Rising retail prices are a self-fulfilling prophecy, too, as luxury brands feel comfortable charging more, knowing buyers are accustomed to re-selling and potentially earning back on purchases one day.
The verdict: because the re-edition is so expensive retail, the estimated price of the vintage will increase, but still remain much lower than retail. Vintage remains the deal.
Of note: none of the new Multicolor Monogram bags are exact copies of the vintage, meaning Louis Vuitton isn’t stepping on vintage collector’s toes, or, notably, buyers who want both versions.
In terms of changes, the most significant — and, I’d say, criticized! — change was the black Multicolor Monograms, which went from gold to silver hardware, and lost the signature brown Vachetta handles.
Honestly, take it from Law Roach who says there’s “no need to run for the reissue, when you got the original…”
Law (Zendaya’s ‘Image Architect’ for this campaign! 😅) posted this carousel wearing a vintage mink bum bag from 2007. These holiest-of-grails are technically part of this re-edition, too, but they’re “nomination-only,” and selling for $13,000 this time around...
So: buy, sell, or hold? I think the current price jump for the Multicolor Monogram will regress to the mean, particularly after the next chapter drops. (Rumor has it: anticipate Cherry Blossom for March and Cherries in May.)
Now is the time to think: 🍒🌸
While the two-year average on Cherry Blossom is already higher ($1,072) than the Multicolor Monogram ($800), vintage Cherry Blossom hasn’t price-peaked — yet.
Tia says she favors her Cherry Speedy, the most expensive in her collection: “I found [mine] on Fashionphile [a few years ago]. In my opinion the Speedy is the most classic and iconic LV bag, and I love the playful spin on this design.”
Closely following is her pink Cherry Blossom Pochette, the same one worn by Regina George in Mean Girls (2004) — it was on Tia’s wish list ever since seeing the movie as a teenager!
Just because vintage is about the past, doesn’t mean we can’t be thinking ahead of the curve!
Thank you for reading! You can find me across the internet as @emilymstochl on Instagram, TikTok, and Threads! 💛 - Emily
PS: Vintage dealers, I’m not a tax expert, but you can probably write off a $50 annual subscription to Pre-Loved as a business expense. 😉