The power of charm is in your hands.

Image Credit: Teen Vogue
Photography: Christian Vierig/Getty

Quirky-cute and oversized bag charms have been a prominent trend during Copenhagen Fashion Week, sported on street style stars like Marianne Theodorsen, Emili Sindlev, and Janka Polliani. The bag charm accessory trend is taking over fashion, straight from the runways of Paris to the streets of Kødbyen and finding its way as the latest Maximalist style craze on TikTok and the runway (see below for an inspired plush toy look from di(Vision)’s SS23 CPHFW show).

This summer, the It bag won’t be the bag itself, but how you adorn it. Bag charms are nothing new, but Balenciaga’s spring/summer 2024 collection sealed the deal on the trend with the brand’s exaggerated, loud, statement-making styling. Coach’s fall/winter 2024 collection continued the Y2K-era trend with NYC-themed charms and keychains, and now that the end of summer is upon us, street stylers and influencvers are clipping on a charm on every bag they can find, from Balenciagas to Birkins.

It’s all about self-expression and personalization: playful Hello Kitty pouches, to 1997’s toy Tamagotchis and beloved Teletubbies, to polished pearls and Hermés-style classic scarves, to touristy kitsch and clip-on stuffed animals or dangling designer logo broaches—handbags dripping with personalized stories has never been hotter. Anything can count as a bag charm—just ask the influencer and jewelry designer Vera Cai; chains, locks, cords, headscarves, actual jewelry and more. We dig into the timely origins of the trend, how to sport the style, and the latest street style snaps from CPHFW to inspire your own semi-charmed kind of life that acts as both self-expression and a conversation-starter.

Image Credit: Elle
Photography: Jeremy Moeller/Getty

The Ultimate Bag Charm Muse: Jane Birkin clutching one of her charmed-up Birkin bags.
Image Credit: Marieclaire.com

According to MarieClaire.com TikTok creators “call it “Jane Birkinfying” a bag—search the phrase on the platform, and you’ll see videos of women tying scarves to vintage Louis Vuitton Neverfulls and affixing loose Chanel pearl necklaces to purses. Scandi show-goers at Copenhagen Fashion Week Spring 2025 secured rose-motif hair clips and plushy stuffed animals to their handbags. And if you ask the Substack’s style cohort, they’ll tell you that a beaded bracelet belongs just as much on your Bottega Veneta Andiamo bag as it does on your wrist.”

For Jalil Johnson, street style sweetheart and author of the fashion blog Consider Yourself Cultured, adding jewelry to his handbags is about what he calls controlled chaos. “First and foremost, the bag charms trend is deeply connected to personal style and remains very much in vogue," he says. Clashing maximalism and the mix of high and low designers and brands has been encouraging the customization trend resonating with the style-savvy masses.

There’s also an emotional aspect to a bag charm. As Johnson shouts out, it “evokes a sense of nostalgia, especially since this trend has a distinct Y2K feel” that calls back to the days you tied a toy or beaded crafty-eyesore to your tote. And nothing helps fuel a trend more than a dose of style sentimentality.

Embellishing a handbag with trinkets is an opportunity to carry personal mementos with you throughout your day. You can clip on a charm bracelet or, if you’re feeling nostalgic attach an kid-like stuffed animal clip-on. Thanks to this trend there’s now tons of choices out there to splurge on a designer bag charm and clip it to your work bag as a moment of in-office joy (or an extension of your office if you’re in advertising).

The beauty of personalizing a handbag is that the power is in your hands.

The guests during the Danish fashion week agree: Now is the time to spruce up our bags. With cute little key rings, shawls, roses, leather straps, pearl strings or cuddly teddy bears. Choose what you want! But one thing is certain - this fall we'll be inspired by the street fashion at Copenhagen Fashion Week and carry a playfully dolled-up bag in hand.