Hermès Beats Antitrust Suit Alleging Unlawful Birkin Bag Scheme

Luxury fashion brand Hermès International escaped a lawsuit Wednesday alleging it illegally forces customers to buy tens of thousands of dollars in merchandise before having the opportunity to buy its famous Birkin handbag.

Consumers in a proposed class action failed to plausibly allege Hermes has market power in a properly identified market related to its Birkin bag, which is required under the Sherman Act, Judge James Donato said. The US District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed the consumers’ second amended complaint with prejudice and closed the case.

• Lead plaintiff Tina Cavalleri alleged she spent thousands of dollars on the luxury brand and said she was coerced into buying ancillary products by virtue of waiting to purchase a Birkin bag
• Birkin bags, which can range in price from thousands of dollars to more than $100,000 a piece, have become a symbol of wealth and exclusivity, since the bags aren’t publicly displayed in-store or available to every customer for purchase
• She and other plaintiffs alleged Hermès was in violation of federal antitrust law and California state law. But Donato said their renewed attempt at litigation didn’t provide any new facts that might have filled in the gaps in the initial complaint or raise their antitrust theories above a “purely speculative level”

Haffner Law PC and Setareh Law Group represent the plaintiffs. Latham & Watkins LLP represent Hermes.

The case is Cavalleri v. Hermes International, N.D. Cal., No. 3:24-cv-01707, order of dismissal 9/17/25.