For more than a decade and a half, the French auction house Artcurial has been auctioning off the most sought-after luxury brands and was the first auctioneer to offer Hermès accessories. Every year, the department of fashion and luxury accessories organizes two prestigious auctions in Monaco dedicated to the French design house, as well as several themed online auctions, with total sales of hundreds of thousands of euros.
FashionUnited spoke to Alice Léger, specialist in Hermès and luxury handbags, about her work at Artcurial, the unique position of Hermès and the best-selling fashion item of all time.
You work in the fashion and luxury accessories department at Artcurial. How did you come to this job?
I studied at a fashion school and did a masters in fashion management. My passion is fashion history and fashion sociology, so I thought about how to combine my passion and my work, and the auction house was key. I’ve been working at Artcurial for five years now.
What is your role at Artcurial?
I run the Hermès auctions: there are four auctions a year, two online and two in Monaco. For every auction, I first have to search for sellers. I do a lot of appraisals, authenticate the items and do research on them. I meet with my sellers and negotiate the price and type of auction, either online or in Monaco, where we will offer the item. After the commercial part is done, I work with photographers and graphic designers to create a catalogue. As soon as the catalog is ready, we will organize the exhibition of the auction in Monaco. I also work with buyers who may be interested in the bags we offer.
They sell a range of luxury items at Artcurial. How do you select the pieces to be included in the auction?
90 percent of my auctions are Hermès bags because they are the most expensive and sought-after handbags. The condition of the models is very important. In Monaco we only offer new bags or bags in very good condition. The year of the handbag is also important: the newer the bag, the higher the price.
Where do the objects that are auctioned come from?
Most pieces come from private sellers. Artcurial is the first auction house to organize a Hermès auction, so we have many long-standing customers. With our communication and advertising, we also try to win new customers.
How do you ensure that all the luxury items you sell are authentic?
This is a very important part of my work. I authenticate the pieces and work with another expert to ensure all objects are authentic. We don’t want there to be any doubts about our bags.
Can you roughly predict what will sell best at auction?
For many items we have an idea of the prices we will achieve, but sometimes the bids can be very surprising. In January we offered a Birkin 30 bag in Dalmatian calfskin that was estimated at 8,000 euros. In the end we sold the bag for 45,000 euros. So sometimes it’s a great, big surprise.
Which brands are most popular with your customers?
Hermès has been the most popular brand for many years. After Hermès, it’s Chanel. Chanel has also gone up in price so the prices on the second hand market are now very high. Next I would name Louis Vuitton, but only the limited editions and the collaborations, for example with Supreme. However, the market for Louis Vuitton is very different from that for Hermès. Hermès is something very special.
What makes Hermes so special?
When you think of French luxury, you think of Hermès. The quality is unparalleled and the production of the bags is very limited. You can’t just go to a store and buy them. It can take up to three years to buy a Hermès bag, so for many people Artcurial is the only way to get hold of a bag right away. It’s also the only brand you pay more for at auction than in a Hermès store because the bags are so rare.
What is currently trending on the auction market?
The Mini Kelly. It’s so small you can’t even fit a cell phone in it. And the Birkin 25, which is also quite small. All mini bags are currently very popular.
Why do you think that is?
We saw a lot of mini bags at fashion week, like the Jacquemus Chiquito. That’s a trend at the moment, maybe in six months it will be the big bags.
They hold both physical and online-only auctions. Have you noticed differences in the customers of the different auctions?
Our Monaco auctions and our online auctions differ greatly in the items offered, so the clientele is of course very different. Of course we find customers from one sale to the next. In our online sale we have pieces with estimates starting at 100 euros, while in Monaco prices are much higher and rarely below 1,000 euros.
Our two ways of selling complement each other perfectly: selling online allows us to reach a younger clientele who are tech-savvy, while selling in Monaco is mainly aimed at international customers.
What advice would you give to someone who is attending one of your auctions for the first time?
The auction is very, very short. It lasts about 30 seconds. So you have to be extremely fast if you want to buy an item. It is best to take a close look at the catalog beforehand and set a price limit.
Which models should first-time buyers choose?
If you want a Hermès bag, you have to buy a Kelly or a Birkin. These are the two most coveted bags. Size is extremely important. The smaller the better, and when it comes to color, it matters. If you want to wear them, you can choose any color, but if you want to use them as an investment, it should be a color like green or pink, nothing too classy. A Kelly 28 or Birkin 30 in classic leather, for example, is a good place to start.
Do most people buy a Hermès bag to carry themselves or more as an investment?
I’d say it’s fifty-fifty. Only Hermès bags can be considered as an investment item. When you buy a Louis Vuitton or a Chanel bag, it’s more of a personal thing, I think.
What was the highest selling item at an auction in the Fashion & Luxury Accessories department?
Last summer we sold a bag for 115,000 euros. It was a limited edition Birkin So a Black 30 made of black matte alligator leather. It was the most expensive bag we’ve ever sold at Artcurial and we were very proud of it.
With 155 million euros in sales in the first half of 2022, it was the best half-year in Artcurial’s history. What have been your highlights so far this year?
Our auction in Monaco in January was the best auction to start with. There were some great bids in the room. I’ve already told you about the Birkin, which sold for 45,000 euros, and we also sold a Kelly Crocodile for around 50,000 euros. We also had a successful Chanel vintage auction online.
We were a little surprised at the high prices we got for the individual pieces because they were higher than estimated. I think that Covid could be an explanation for this because many people just want to enjoy life and luxury again.
What sales and events are you looking forward to?
We are running our own fashion week at Artcurial during Paris Fashion Week with an exhibition for our three upcoming sales: Charlie Le Mindu wigs, “Karl Lagerfeld. A German Collection” featuring sketches and photographs by Karl Lagerfeld and a selection of items sold in our Chanel vintage online sale. November is our famous Hermès vintage online sale and luxury accessories auction. Our Hermès & Luxury Bags auction in Monaco will follow in January. So there’s a lot to look forward to.
