Why do people pay more for a handbag than for a holiday? 

The priciest handbag ever sold at auction was Jane Birkin’s original Hermès Birkin, the 1984 prototype made for the actress herself. In July 2025 it fetched €8.6 million (about $10.1 million), bought by Shinsuke Sakimoto, CEO of Valuence Holdings.

French scholar Jean Noël Kapferer, born in 1948, set out to explain why people pay fortunes for luxury goods. A professor at HEC Paris, he revealed that high prices thrive when brands guard their mystique, limit supply, and pair craft with a story people want to join.

Kapferer mapped these ideas in tools like the Brand Identity Prism and co-wrote The Luxury Strategy, showing how scarcity, heritage, and careful distribution keep customers eager. 

His research still guides fashion houses, watchmakers, and even food trends, proving how smart storytelling and rarity can turn ordinary things into treasures.