Gen Zs All Seem to Have Cute Charms Hanging on Their Bags. Here’s Why.

Gone are the days when the clickity-clack of stilettos used to signal a woman’s entrance into a room. It’s now replaced by the clickity-clack of the dozen charms she’s hooked onto her handbag.

Bag charms — small, decorative keychains — are quickly making their way onto the clasps of Gen Zers’ bags. From miniature stuffed toys and cute figurines to beaded chains and even tiny framed pictures of their favorite artists, bag charms vary dramatically in size and form.

For some, the charms just help to spice up an otherwise boring bag. For others, the importance of the charms goes much deeper — they are an extension of their personality, as much a fashion choice as their clothing.

“Whether they’re adorning the ‘it bag’ of the moment or a thrift store find, Gen Zs and Gen Alphas see their bags as a blank canvas to display their personalities and personal style,” said Carol Davidson, an NYC-based image consultant.

“It’s adornment, sure, but also a way of sharing oneself with others,” she added. “A cluster of charms gives others a snapshot of how someone sees themselves and how they want others to see them.”

Retail brands are hopping on the trend, with everyone from KFC to Balenciaga releasing bag charms to get the Gen Z buy-in. Celebrities at Paris Fashion Week had charms swinging from their bags.

Here’s a look at the hottest Gen Z trend of late.

A modern take on ‘Birkinifying’ bags

Davidson said one likely origin of the bag charm trend was the death of Jane Birkin, the late British actor and model who was the muse and namesake of Hermès’ most popular luxury bag, the Birkin.

“‘Birkinifying’ is officially a thing, originating with Jane Birkin herself. She was admired for her unique sense of style and love of fashion, but also for not taking it all too seriously,” Davidson told BI.

“She was one of the first — if not the first – to adorn her large, well-worn bags with charms, scarves, and trinkets. Since her death in 2023, we’ve seen the re-emergence of this ’00s trend,” she added.

Gregory Scott Angel, an assistant professor of fashion at Parsons School of Design, said the punk style of the 1980s could have been a predecessor to the bag charm trend, a style characterized by a “number of piercings, jewelry, and visible identity.”

Angel likened charms to emojis.

“The charms are a big identifier with people’s personality. These charms could be associated with comfort, but for the most part, I see them as identifiers, the same way we use emojis to communicate with people,” Angel said.

A new way to vibe check

Low Zhi An, a 23-year-old tutor and avid charm collector from Singapore, put it bluntly: “If you have no bag charms, you have no personality.”

Low said she probably has over 50 charms in her collection. Although she’s spent up to 40 Singaporean Dollars, or about $30, on a single charm, her favorite is one she got for free at Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour concert in Singapore.

“I got this small keychain from this little girl, and I just thought it was really, really cute. It just happened to have my favorite song on it, Gold Rush,” Low, 23, said.

Low, who is also a die-hard K-pop fan, said that her most expensive charm was a green star plushie keychain tied to an album from her favorite group, NCT.

The charm has a Near Field Communication tag, which, when brought near a phone, immediately lets the user browse and stream the album online.

She also has several charms with photos of her favorite K-pop celebrities, like Yeonjun from the boy band Tomorrow X Together.

Yeo Wen Qing, a recent communications graduate, said her journey collecting bag charms started young, when she kept the small keychains and knickknacks she got from Kinder Joy sweets or McDonald’s meals.

Now, Yeo says she has more than 10 charms, at least one on each bag she owns.

For Yeo, seeing what bag charms a person has is a litmus test of their personality and whether she’ll be able to “vibe well with them.”

“If I see that person has a bag charm of a Labubu, I will know that person buys into trends, maybe buys a bit too much into trends,” she said. Labubu, a furry plushie toy with serrated teeth made by Chinese toymaker PopMart, has taken Asia and, increasingly, the West by storm.

She added that if she sees someone with a charm of an “obscure” cartoon or anime character that she loves, she finds it easier to approach them.

Gwen Lim, a Gen Zer who works in campaign marketing in Singapore, collects bag charms on her travels. She said they serve as souvenirs of her trips and remind her of good times with her friends.

Lim, 23, said charms also serve a very utilitarian function for her.

In Singapore, where a handful of bag brands like Charles & Keith and The Paper Bunny reign supreme and trends spread like wildfire, many people carry similar bags. Hanging charms are her way of differentiating her bag from the masses.

Lim’s charms are also little vehicles for her beauty products. She said beauty brands in South Korea often package their products into bag charms.

Even fashion stylists are getting in on the bag charm trend.

Edith Chan, a Madrid-based stylist, said she’s gotten her clients, who are mainly entrepreneurial women in their 30s, to get in on the bag charm trend. She said even tying a scarf onto their bag helps them make their bag unique to them.

Major retail brands are hopping on the bag charm bandwagon

Retail brands, from fashion to food from across the board, are making bag charms to get the buy-in of the younger consumer base.

In Singapore, KFC debuted limited-edition bag charms of the beloved Japanese cat character Mofusand wearing hats shaped like egg tarts, chicken drumsticks, and an upside-down fried chicken bucket.

Over to haute couture, in November, Balenciaga introduced a “Charms Bar” in some of its stores worldwide, which allows customers to personalize their bags. One of the charms it sells is the $895 “Le City Micro Bag Charm,” a tiny replica of its $2,900 Le City Medium bag.

Angel, the professor from Parsons, said charms are “free marketing” for big brands like Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Cartier.

“In a competitive market, it helps luxury brands solidify brand loyalty with their existing base while providing an accessible entry for aspirational consumers,” Davidson, the image consultant, said.

Chan, the stylist, said the charms are a big way brands are drawing in younger customers.

“These brands always go to the young people,” she said. “It’s one way to nurture this generation to make them brand loyal.”