The Charmification of Everything
The rise of accessories for your accessories
WGSN’s chaotic customization is probably the most accurate way to describe what’s happening in fashion right now: bags, shoes, and belts have flipped from the accessory to the accessorized with the revival of charms1. Charms have taken over fashion social feeds, made it into Lyst’s hottest products of Q4-24, and come as miniaturized versions of bestsellers - sometimes priced almost as high as the item they’re replicating.
So how did the charmification of everything start? The charm necklaces that were everywhere in the late 2010s gave way to the bag charms dominating the 2020s, which sparked the growing shoe charm trend. Now we’re beginning to see charms extend to belts and even the niche sunglasses category.
The resurgence of charms into the trend landscape is layered with cultural and financial undertones. It’s an aesthetic pushback to minimalism and quiet luxury as the pendulum is swinging back to maximalism and personal style. It’s a deeply personal way to signal your individuality and self-branding. It’s a new entry point into luxury for aspirational consumers during times of economic uncertainty, and a form of micro-luxury that delivers iykyk brand recognition without the full investment that a designer bag demands.
Charms also play into the #littletreat culture that has gained prominence during the 2020s polycrisis, bringing glimmers of joy in a small, adorable package. Let’s look at how this is playing out across the accessory spectrum, starting with the one you can’t escape right now: bag charms.
What’s Now: Bag Charms
In some ways it feels like bag charms came out of nowhere. They rose up in 2024 to completely take over the accessory world and reached a frenzy during Fashion Week in early 2025. But in reality, bag charms have been resurfacing over the last three years and fluctuating in popularity for the last 40. There’s a chance that you not only own a bag charm, but have a curated cluster decorating your bag as you read this.
This trend took off early last year driven by runways and influencers, with #BagCharms generating over 21K posts on TikTok in 2024. Looking at Google Trends over the last 12 months, bag charm searches reached peak popularity at the end of December 2024, dropped off in the new year and have climbed back up in the past two weeks. The top rising related searches are Labubu, Anthropologie, Coach Brooklyn bag, and Miu Miu, all up 550%+ due to a tremendous increase in searches in the last year - these are the brands to watch in the bag charm space.
A Modern Timeline of Bag Charms
A quick visual history of the modern bag charm, which has dipped in and out of the accessory world over the past 40 years:
1980s - 1990s: Jane Birkin, the inspiration for the Birkin bag in the 80s and the modern inspiration for bag charms (Jane Birkinifying your bag anyone?), personalized her bags with trinkets like jewelry, tassels, cords, and keychains.
2000s: Bag charms went mainstream with the popularity of Juicy Couture, alongside the emergence of cell phone charms to customize your Nokia flip phone. Hermès also brought bag charms to the luxury world in 2005.
2010s: Fendi launched fluffy monster bag charms with their AW13 collection, spawning an entire monster universe. This was followed by Prada’s bag charms on AW16 runways, prompting Vogue to ask: Doesn't Your Bag Need Its Own Accessory? Taking Cues From the Prada Runway.
2020s: Bag charms recaptured our collective consciousness as pandemic restrictions were winding down, revenge dressing had taken hold, TikTok was rapidly disseminating microtrends, and nineties and noughties nostalgia was at its peak. Enter Loewe’s SS23 Paseo bag adorned with the Anthurium charm, followed in rapid succession by Balenciaga, Coach, and Miu Miu bag charms on 2024 runways.
What’s Rising: Shoe Charms
Within the past decade we’ve been accessorizing the areas near our shoes since anklets reached their saturation point in 2018. Legwear became the next shoe-adjacent accessory, seen in tie-dyed and scrunched socks in the athleisure-heavy early 2020s, shifting to dreamy hosiery, sheer tights, and red socks over the past two years. Meanwhile, innovators were dipping into accessorized shoes. In 2025 shoe charms have moved from innovators to early adopters with the potential to cross the chasm into the early majority.2
I first noticed shoe charms in 2022 as I was doing footwear trend research for work, and this look has evolved over from singular chains to the highly personal form of chaotic customization that we’re experiencing right now in bag charms. TikTok has been a breeding ground for the shoe charm, with posts increasing over 200% this spring. Now thanks to the frequency bias of reading this post, you’re going to notice shoe charms seeping into your feeds, and they might make it onto your shoes (if they’re not already there).
What’s Next: Belt Charms
Belt charms are beginning to emerge, whether to personalize your actual belt or to zhuzh your belt loops. Belt charms tap into the broader idea of modularity, where your keychain is your jewelry is your bag charm is your shoe charm is your belt charm. I don’t foresee belt charms rising to the dizzying heights of bag charms, but they’ll act as a vicinal avenue for styling meaningful mementos in a unique way. This trend is ripe for summer when jewelry and accessories replace outerwear and sweaters as a layer.
Five Ways To Charm Sustainably
It’s easy to be blinded by the shiny new bag charms out there3, but there are a plethora of ways to source your charms sustainably at little to no cost for a fully unique look. Here are my top five:
Shop Your Jewelry Box: Take a cue from Jane Birkin and turn baubles like necklaces, brooches, keychains, or earrings into a bag (or shoe or belt) charm. I accessorized my bag with a necklace, my beloved dog’s vet tag, and a nostalgic cell phone charm tied on with corded evil eye bracelets.
Repurposing a necklace and bracelets wasting away in my jewelry box along with sentimental tokens Clean Out Your Junk Drawer: Have a cord, carabiner, padlock, hand sanitizer, lip gloss tube, or mini sunscreen languishing away in a junk drawer? Get inspired by this Frankie Shop video and clip your essentials to the outside of your bag (bonus points if your essential is sunscreen).
Tie It On: Repurpose the scarf or bandana collecting dust in your closet to tie on your handbag strap. It’s a multipurpose accessory that triples as a neck scarf, hair tie, and coffee cup sleeve.
Thrift It: There is so much out there secondhand, just waiting to be your accessorizing accessory. If you have an eye for curation, go to your local thrift store. If you’d prefer to have a preloved set curated for you, go to Bag Crap.
DIY It: I’m not crafty at all, so whenever I want to DIY something fashion-related I go to Honestly WTF and find out how she does it (it’s how I re-learned how to make friendship bracelets). There are so many posts on making your own charms from things you might already have at home, like this pom pom garland, this tassel, and this keychain4.
Fashion Notes
The food to fashion pipeline has been on my mind for the last few years as designers are opening experiential cafes and hosting pop-ups. With opening price point items like beauty, fragrance, and accessories being impacted by tariffs and inflation, food could be the next frontier for gateway luxury purchasing. Even more importantly in today’s social-first world, designer food activations will create immersive experiences that boost social clout.
I’ve been fascinated with AI fashion accounts since they started popping up in the early 2020s and love what fashion.coupids is doing for fashion x food. AI is a polarizing topic across every industry, particularly in creative sectors like fashion, but these are too surreally on point not to share.
That’s it for this week, thanks for reading! If you’ve charmified your bag or sneakers or come across a belt charm in the wild, I’d love to know more in the comments. Or about any of your charm and little treat thoughts in general. See you next week!
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And it’s not limited to fashion: we’ve seen this phenomenon on everything from Stanley Cups to Rhode phone cases.
Oh my word, Tina, I had to choose "too minimal for charms" in the poll which is SO funny since I don't consider myself a minimalist. I love seeing the charms on purses but I prefer when they feel more organic than just buying stuff off Anthropologie. I guess that extends to all charms; it feels "cooler" to me when they are purchased as part of real life.
Such a perfectly woven piece with so much charm (sorry!). I’m firmly in the bag charm lane and on the hunt for something meaningful to add to my everyday tote x