Joanna Uzunova reveals how rare Hermès Birkin and Kelly bags, alongside Chanel collectibles, are sourced through a discreet global concierge and allocation network.
“The collector that has that asset-driven mindset is going to be interested in an Hermès Birkin, just like they’re going to be interested in off-market properties in London or even rare whisky,” says Joanna Uzunova, founder of Luxe Buyers Club and ex-buyer for Chanel, Ralph Lauren, Mulberry, and Hermès.
Her company sits at the intersection of concierge sourcing and market intelligence, serving an international client base that already understands the mechanics of luxury acquisition. “The clients that we serve are looking for the next level of precision. It’s not to say that they can’t go into boutiques and buy what they want – they are very familiar with acquisition strategies within the maisons – but they don’t have the time, the energy or the interest in doing that,” she says. “They come to us knowing the exact leather, the hardware, the year stamp of the handbag they are interested in – and they want it tomorrow.”
In this instance, the role of the concierge increasingly overlaps with that of a portfolio advisor. “There’s only about 50 to 100 of people doing what I do worldwide,” Uzunova tells Elite Traveler. “A lot of our clients have worked with us for such a long time that we have visibility over their existing collections. So, we go beyond just sourcing for them – we guide them with how the market is doing.” She does this through market intelligence, by collaborating with peers and insiders at the maisons themselves, so she knows “ahead of time which pieces are going to be discontinued or how prices will move.”
At product level, value is increasingly shaped by discontinuation cycles and allocation control across maisons. But timing has become just as important. “My clients will sometimes just store their pieces to resell them at a different price level. It can be a lucrative investment.”
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Uzunova’s core focus remains anchored in Hermès, where controlled distribution and limited production intensify both demand and secondary market premiums. “We’ve sourced a fair share of Hermès Himalayan Birkins. An example that always pops into my head is a very rare – one in the market type of rare – special order piece, which is an Hermès Exotic Mini. It required insane logistics to get it from France – with multiple flights to and the right documentation.”
She adds that “we recently had a celebrity client who bought an Hermès Exotic Shoulder Birkin, which is beautiful. Clients will fight over it, because there’s so few in circulation. Even the auction houses don’t have access to them.”
Contemporary cultural moments also feed directly into this ecosystem of demand and scarcity. “Chanel has been the talk of the town [this year]. Everyone is talking about the Hailey Bieber bag (the Large Shopping Bag from Matthieu Blazy’s debut Spring/Summer 2026) – we sourced three just last week. They were allocated one per Chanel boutique around the world.”
With a sourcing team embedded across fashion capitals – “my shopping team are the feet on the ground that shop full time in Paris, London, and Hong Kong” – the scale of the operation is clear. “A lot of our clients are based in the US, UAE, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Given the nature of the service that I offer, which is white glove and hand delivery around the world, we travel often to see clients. I’m in Switzerland every other week.”
The service that Luxe Buyers Club offers extends beyond acquisition into lifecycle planning, mapping client behaviour across travel, wardrobe needs, and future purchasing cycles. “The biggest part of what we do that I love the most is that we know our clients’ lifestyle inside-out. For example, I would know that my client in Zurich is traveling in two weeks’ time, and I know what her family’s needs are going to be, what luggage they’re going to need.”
Yet despite the visibility of certain pieces, her client base itself remains intentionally private. “A lot of our clients are super anonymous. They’re very open to new things and are early adopters as well.” At scale, however, output remains relatively contained – underscoring how narrow the apex of the market truly is. “I want to say last year, we probably sourced around a hundred bags.”
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