Lily Allen and Dua Lipa Are Backing the “Dated” Bag Charms Trend

Following seasons dominated by “quiet luxury” and “clean girl” trends, 2024 is set to see the reigns loosened and the rule book discarded. Creeping in with the reemergence of micro shorts and gladiator sandals is an accessory trend I always thought cheapened my look but, in actual fact, can give your outfits much more personality.

Swept in by the Y2K and 2010s nostalgia trends that fashion people are embracing this spring, bag charms have been quietly latching on to the handbags of those most stylish this season.

Offering a playful update to day-to-day styling, the bag charm trend was rife across the early ’10s as fashion people adorned their most prized possessions with fuzzy Fendi monsters and other such kitsch accoutrements. Seeping out of the zeitgeist by the latter half of the decade when pared-back styling took hold, unadorned bags then went on to enjoy their time in the sun.

However, it now seems that bag charms are back, and some of our favourite celebrities have been the first to style them. Recently toted by Lily Allen and Dua Lipa, both of whom adorned their Hermès Birkin bags with an array of charms and scarves within days of eachother, it’s clear that London’s style set have a soft spot for the fun, unserious trend. Giving the pricy bags a relaxed and laidback edge, the embellishments juxtapose the ornate nature of the Hermès Birkin in a way that many of us mightn’t dare compromise.

It’s not just current celebrities who have fallen for the trend. Bag charms were spotted up and down the runway this past season. Woven into Balenciaga’s S/S 24 runway collection and scattered across Simone Rocha’s presentation, big-name brands are backing the growing trend, too.

Made popular by model and actor Jane Birkin who frequently styled her namesake Hermès bag with varying arrays of charms, this season we expect to see the small but mighty look to be adopted en mass.

To get ahead of the crowd, read on to shop our edit of the best bag charms to add to your arm candy—be it Hermès or H&M—below.