Which are the most popular bags in China? Luxury CEOs turn to Mr Bags for the answer

Buying luxury bags is like playing a game, says Mr Bags, and it is one the key opinion leader knows well. He ranks the 30 most popular bags in China every month

He tells the Post how he comes up with the rankings, why they matter for people in China and why the Chanel 2.55 or the Hermès Birkin do not appear on them

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Chinese key opinion leader and handbag authority Mr Bags with Tod’s owner Diego Della Valle during Milan Fashion Week in September 2022. Mr Bags compiles a ranking of the 30 most popular bags in China every month.

Published: 7:15am, 27 Oct 2022Updated: 2:48pm, 9 Nov 2022

Every month, fashion executives in Milan and Paris wait eagerly for Mr Bags, a Chinese KOL (key opinion leader) and authority on handbags, to release his rankings of the 30 most popular bags in China.

Mr Bags, whose real name is Tao Liang, has been posting this chart for about a year and a half, and it has become the ultimate barometer of which bags are hot in China, which – according to various studies – is expected to be the largest luxury market in the world by 2025.

While Tao started the rankings for his followers – he posts them on China’s Twitter-like microblogging site Weibo, lifestyle platform Red and Instagram – they have become so influential that luxury CEOs are now paying attention, which speaks to the clout that Chinese influencers and consumers have in the luxury industry.

“In China, people love rankings,” says Tao in an interview after the Louis Vuitton show on the last day of Paris Fashion Week in 2022. “A lot of our followers are fashion lovers and they know a lot about bags, but there are still fans who are not super into fashion and want to buy expensive designer bags. To see a ranking is the easiest thing for them to understand – to educate them, step by step.”

Mr Bags has been posting this chart for about a year and a half.

Tao says that, not long after he started posting the rankings, fashion insiders started to tell him that they closely analyse the list every month – not just to get a sense of what is going on in the market but also to find inspiration for their own purchases.