Why French Women Are Obsessed With This Affordable Parisian Bag Brand

It’s 10am on Paris’ Rue de Richelieu, and queues are beginning to snake their way up the street towards French handbag brand Polène, ready for its doors to open.

This happens almost daily, a mix of locals and tourists desperate to shop the label’s minimalist designs that look like designer items but for a lot less. Parisiennes rarely queue for their favourite fashion brands. While it might be de rigueur for Londoners to form orderly lines outside buzzy stores, it’s not the done thing in the City of Light. To appear too keen or enthusiastic about a thing is simply not in keeping with the enigmatic French woman stereotype. And yet, Polène has upended the rules. The hype has gone beyond its three Paris stores to London, Beijing and Copenhagen. Its Regent Street branch frequently attracts long lines that wind down the pavement.

“A lot of French people wear it,” says luxury consultant Hélène Holzmann. “It is understated and discreet and everyone talks about the quality of the bags. It could be luxury, but it doesn’t carry the luxury price tag, which is even more interesting. I think that is the major part of why it is so popular right now.”

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The Cyme tote, £490

The queues aren’t the only sign of its popularity. The Princess of Wales carries a Numéro Sept bag, and Lily Collins was also seen with a Numéro Huit while in character as Emily in Emily in Paris. While the buzz around Polène might be high, the brand isn’t new. It was founded in 2016 by siblings Elsa, Antoine and Mathieu Mothay, the great-grandchildren of the founders of cult French label Saint James, who came up with a winning formula: low-key, sleek and versatile styles – priced between £340 to £600 – made in limited runs, using great leather. Logos are minimal, this is more about quality and durability than status. 

“Polène came into the market at a time when enthusiasm for organic minimalism was spilling out from the top end of the market and finding a much larger audience,” said Robert Williams, chief correspondent at-large at The Business of Fashion. “It built momentum by offering pared-back, easy-to-style bags with gentle, organic forms – rarely geometric – at a much more accessible price point than the likes of Céline.”

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The Nodde hobo, £490

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Numéro Neuf, £440

Although the label’s bags are still far from high street prices, they are still more affordable than their increasingly expensive luxury counterparts. Polène might look related to Toteme and Loewe, but bags are between £500-£2,000 less. The designs are sold direct to the consumer, rather than via stockists such as Net-A-Porter and Selfridges, which enables the prices to remain accessible. It also utilisers social media influencers and digital marketing as opposed to expensive ad campaigns. “So many people are priced out of the luxury because the mark-ups today are frankly indecent,” says Holzmann. “A Polène bag is a tenth of what you would pay in any of the other luxury leather good houses, and of the same quality.”

Williams agrees: “It’s not just the more accessible price point [that draws shoppers], but also the anticipated price-per-wear,” he adds. “Polène has a good reputation for quality and propose versatile styles that you can wear a lot.”

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The Béri, £380

The brand uses only Spanish or Italian calfskin leather, and the family prefers hand-stitching over machine production. All bags are made by craftsmen in Ubrique, a Spanish town where Loewe, Chanel and Louis Vuitton have been known to have leather goods made. Each product takes 18 months to create, from initial sketch to finished item. In 2024, it received significant backing which helped them to scale up: Bernard Arnault’s private equity firm L Catterton acquired a significant stake, which has led to its international expansion, and an opening on Paris’ famed Champs-Élyéees. Polène still offers only limited runs of its bags, which of course make them even more desirable. “It’s the best thing you could do,” says Holzmann. “When there is a limited run of anything, people want it more. It gives them caché.”

Earlier this month, Polène opened a pop-up shop at its Regent Street store, where shoppers can watch its Longue Vue leather stationery being made by artisans in a dedicated space on the ground floor. Notebook covers will be hand woven and embossed with an emblem designed specifically for London, and charms made as visitors watch. “They’re doing something right,” says Holzmann. “The brand’s image, Instagram, design, quality, merchandising… everything is extremely luxury but without the luxury pricing.”