One file per model: documented history, construction, hardware, and the date-code doctrine. No prices, no listings feed — the file reads the same in ten years, and a date code is not authentication.
| MODEL | INTRODUCED | WHY IT MATTERS |
|---|---|---|
| Chanel 2.55 (Original) | 1955 | The bag that started the modern handbag |
| Chanel Classic Flap (Medium) | c. 1983 | THE Chanel |
| Chanel 2.55 Reissue (226) | 2005 | The fiftieth-anniversary return of the original |
| Louis Vuitton Keepall (55) | c. 1924 | The bag that ended the trunk era |
| Louis Vuitton Speedy (30) | c. 1930 | Born in 1930 as the Express |
| Louis Vuitton Speedy (25) | c. 1959 | The Audrey Hepburn size |
| Louis Vuitton Neverfull (MM) | 2007 | The 2007 tote that became the default luxury bag of its era |
| Hermès Kelly (28) | c. 1935 | Born the Sac à dépêches around 1935 (some histories say 1928) and renamed in 1977 for the princess who used it to shield her pregnancy from photographers in a 1956 photograph seen around the world |
| Hermès Birkin (30) | 1984 | Sketched on an Air France flight in 1984 after Jane Birkin's basket spilled |
The file fills in one maison at a time. Greyed files are open but not yet written.
BagFile records what was made: the model, its documented introduction, its construction, and the date-code system that places an individual bag in time. Maisons publish far less history than they manufacture, so approximate dates are marked "c." and the file cites what can be documented. Model files anchor on history rather than this season's catalog, which keeps a page for an in-production model as permanent as one for a discontinued reference. And the doctrine on every page: a date code is not authentication — it is where inspection begins.