A woman walks into the Hermès International store on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, California.
Patrick T. Fallon Bloomberg | Getty Images
Hermes is becoming the target of a new lawsuit alleging that the luxury retailer sells its coveted Birkin handbags only to customers who have spent significant amounts of money on other items in the store.
The proposed federal class action lawsuit, filed this week in San Francisco, accuses Hermès of violating antitrust laws by requiring customers to purchase other items in-store before being given the privilege to buy a Birkin bag from Hermès.
Birkin handbags are handcrafted from leather by French artisans and can sell for tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars on the resale market and are on the arms of celebrities including Jennifer Lopez, Kim Kardashian and Cardi B. You can see it everywhere. The bags can only be purchased in Hermès stores and not on its website.
However, the lawsuit alleges that the average customer cannot walk into an Hermès store, find a Birkin bag on display and buy it. Instead, customers “deemed worthy” will see Birkin bags in private rooms.
The lawsuit alleges that Hermès salespeople were tasked with selecting customers who were eligible to purchase Birkin bags.
On June 11, 2015, Hermès Maroquinerie de la Tardoire, located in Montbron, southwest France, specializes in the production of Hermès Birkin bags in calfskin.
Mehdi Fedouah | AFP | Getty Images
“Defendants directed these salespeople to provide Birkin handbags only to consumers who had established a sufficient ‘purchase history’ or ‘purchase profile’ with Defendants or Defendants’ ancillary products (such as shoes, scarves, belts, jewelry and home furnishings),” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit alleges that while the salespeople did not receive a commission for selling the Birkin bags, they were instructed to use the Birkin bags to force customers into purchasing other products in exchange for a 3% commission.
Hermès did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Thursday.
The lawsuit is seeking class action status for all U.S. residents who purchased or were required to purchase ancillary products to purchase a Birkin bag in the past four years.
The plaintiffs are seeking an unspecified amount of monetary damages and a court order enjoining sales tactics they say Hermès used.
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