Endless Hermes Unboxings during the Pandemic — What’s Up with That?!
The last two years, 2020 and 2021, have been some of the hardest, if not THE hardest, years for so many people around the world. The global pandemic has completely either uprooted or changed many lives… I won’t get into that in this article, but let’s just say that this was the time of many uncertainties.
Now, many of you may know this already but I follow the luxury community on YouTube and Instagram very closely. (SIDE NOTE: I’ve been a fan of long-time YouTubers, Minks4all, Sophie Shohet (been watching their videos since 2017!) and most recently discovered FashionablyAmy, Kat L, Cassie Thorpe and Purseonfleek (since late 2019/early 2020). I highly recommend these lovely ladies to follow :) Also, they are NOT part of this craziness and are so fabulous)
What I noticed in the last 12–18 months has been quite fascinating and that is the ENDLESS, CONSTANT unboxings of Hermes bags… mainly Birkin and Kelly. Now, don’t get me wrong, there is still a big air of mystery and exclusivity about Hermes, but for some reason, this classic design house has become… dare I say “trendy”?!
For some reason, during the pandemic, the Hermes videos have gotten more popular and more YouTubers are unboxing bags left and right. Don’t just take my word for it. Let’s look at the data (yes, I am also a data nerd as a Marketer by trade):
Now, I personally noticed a LOT of unboxings left and right. Back in 2018/2019, Hermes Birkin videos were very few and far between. I mean, let’s be honest, these bags start at $10K… so they are not that accessible or easily affordable for many people, but for some reason, during the pandemic, it seems like so many people are buying Birkins and Kellys and posting videos. What’s up with that?
Some YouTubers have said they have put their travel fund into these bags. That makes sense to me. Others have said they wanted to treat themselves for surviving this pandemic. That also makes sense, but I honestly think there are many others that are doing it for the views and popularity… It becomes less special each time when certain YouTubers do unboxings constantly… each bag loses its allure and uniqueness… I get very turned off by that, personally. I wouldn’t say it’s tone deaf or anything though if they can truly afford to buy Hermes bags all the time. It’s just that Hermes Birkin, in particular, is THE HOLY GRAIL for most handbag addicts/lovers, and even buying one is a lifetime dream… so how and why are these people doing it again and again during this time?!
Google Trends does show a huge uptick in search results on both web and YouTube… so there’s definitely some data to back up that people were interested in these unboxings and bags in general towards the end of 2020 and in 2021 month over month. Also, I’ve seen several videos of long time luxury buyers saying they are considering Hermes due to Chanel’s crazy price increases!!
Anyways, I just wanted to write this to think out loud about what is truly happening with these unboxings… also, when a classic bag like this becomes this popular, does that make it — GASP — trendy?! Yikes, I don’t think Hermes would want their bags to be considered trendy.
Whatever the reasons may be, the fact remains that Hermes Birkins and Kelly unboxings don’t seem to go away; as a matter of fact, there isn’t one week that goes by that someone isn’t buying these bags.
Let’s wait and see what happens. I wonder if one day this “trend” will go away and people will start selling and I would be curious to know what reasons they will give for selling their Birkins and Kellys. For now, let’s try not to roll our eyes at yet another unboxing… hahaha!
