The Henry Smith bag collection is not what the luxury handbag world was expecting, and that is rather the point. Smith, the social media creator known online as @henryhenryhenryhenryhen, has spent three years quietly assembling a haul that includes a sequined 1997 Chanel, a Bottega Veneta Andiamo, a micro Speedy, and a rotating cast of vintage Vuitton, all while wearing board shorts and no shoes.
He told Vogue the whole thing began with his older sister Beatrice, who studied French and art history before working in museums and galleries. ‘As her little brother, I’ve seen her appreciation for fashion and the arts, so I think it was always just a necessary part of life,’ he said. A tailored suit jacket after university, bought on his father’s advice when Smith took his first job in politics, was the second nudge. ‘Wearing clothes that were meant for me, fit me, and flowed, that’s when my addiction truly took form.’
Bags came later, via Tumblr and rap music. ‘I’ve always listened to a lot of rap music, especially A$AP Rocky,’ Smith said. ‘When I was growing up on Tumblr, all the rappers had bags and Goyard trunks.’ His TikTok following gave him the financial runway to act on it.
Inside Henry Smith’s Bag Collection: From Goyard to Vintage Chanel
His first purchase was a green Goyard tote with a zipper, bought at the Maison Goyard store at 20 East 63rd Street on the Upper East Side. He told the sales associate to skip the box and the bag, walked from the store down to The Standard Hotel with the tote on his shoulder, and declared himself addicted. The Andiamo came later, and has become the workhorse of the collection. Retailing on Bottega Veneta’s site at approximately $4,600 to $5,700 depending on size and style, it travels everywhere with him. ‘As it continues to get beat up and scratched and thrashed, I just love it more and more,’ he said.
The 1997 Chanel is the sentimental centrepiece. Smith sourced it through Fashionphile, the luxury resale company founded in 1999 by Sarah Davis, who started by selling on eBay before launching the company’s own website in 2006. Its first flagship store and headquarters opened in Carlsbad, California in 2012, which Smith finds both gratifying and slightly absurd given that nobody in San Diego, he says, pays it much attention.
The find happened during a working visit to Fashionphile’s Los Angeles operation, which has since expanded into a 32,330-square-foot space housing retail, events, operations, and content facilities, with up to 10,000 items from its online inventory available in person. Staff walked him into the back, organised by brand and colour, and when he said he owned no Chanel, they pointed him to a tiny sequined bag. It was from 1997, the year he was born. Every sequin was intact. He bought it immediately.
What Is Next on the Wishlist
Smith is candid about where his eye has wandered next. Matthieu Blazy’s recent output has caught his attention. He wants more Chanel, specifically a mint green crocodile-embossed tote that produced what he calls a visceral reaction. Tom Ford’s Gucci era bags fascinate him. Phoebe Philo’s Chloé Paddingtons ‘blow my mind,’ he said. And he does not yet own a Louis Vuitton Neverfull, a gap he sounds ready to close.
On the question of whether he has opened the door for straight men to carry luxury bags, Smith deflects with characteristic practicality. ‘I hate being the face of straight men getting to do anything,’ he told Vogue. His actual prescription is more grounded: sort the trousers first, find something that fits and flows, then add a bag to replace the bulging pockets. The Henry Smith bag collection, in other words, is less a manifesto than a logical conclusion.
His vintage sourcing through Fashionphile continues once or twice a month, supplemented by sites like outfitrepeater.co, and punctuated by whatever New York shopping trip next enables him. Given the wishlist, the Neverfull is probably the next move.
