The auction of 62 Hermès handbags once owned by Vietnamese property magnate Truong My Lan, currently serving a life sentence for fraud, has raised more than $550,000 (14.1 billion Vietnamese dong). The sale, conducted by the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security, included rare crocodile-skin Birkin and Kelly bags, some encrusted with diamonds and gold hardware. The collection, valued at an estimated $600,000, was part of a wider asset seizure linked to Lan’s conviction for financial crimes totalling $12.5 billion.
Truong My Lan, chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Holdings Group, was arrested in 2022 and charged with fraud, stock market manipulation, and bribing government officials. Her case, described as Vietnam’s largest financial scandal, involved the illegal transfer of funds overseas and the issuance of fake bonds. The handbag collection, amassed over a decade, reflects the excesses of a system where wealth and power often intertwine.
The auction, held on April 10, 2025, attracted bidders from across Southeast Asia and beyond. The highest-selling item, a diamond-encrusted Himalayan crocodile Birkin, fetched $120,000. Proceeds will be used to compensate victims of Lan’s fraud. The sale underscores a broader trend: luxury goods are increasingly liquid assets in criminal forfeiture cases. From the Gupta family’s watches in South Africa to the Hermès bags of Malaysian financier Jho Low, authorities are leveraging auctions to repatriate stolen wealth.
However, the auction raises uncomfortable questions about the global appetite for these status symbols. Each handbag sold carries a carbon footprint exceeding 1,000 kg of CO2 equivalent, primarily from cattle farming for leather and energy-intensive manufacturing processes. The resale market for luxury goods, now worth $50 billion annually, fuels demand that exacerbates biosphere degradation. The leather industry alone contributes to deforestation in the Amazon and water pollution in tanneries across Bangladesh.
Climate correspondent Dr. Helena Vance notes: "When we fetishise these objects, we ignore their environmental cost. A Birkin bag requires the skin of two to four crocodiles, farmed in conditions that often harm local ecosystems. The obsession with status symbols is a distraction from the urgent need to decarbonise our consumption patterns."
The auction also spotlights the intersection of corruption and climate impact. Illicit financial flows, estimated at $800 billion to $2 trillion annually, often flow into luxury assets that are energy-intensive to produce. Recovering these assets through auctions, while compensating victims, does nothing to address the environmental damage embedded in their production. Meaningful reform requires tracing these supply chains and imposing carbon taxes on luxury goods.
As the climate crisis accelerates, the resale of items like Birkin bags will become less about fashion and more about resource allocation. A single bag’s carbon footprint could offset the annual emissions of a household in Bangladesh. The choice is stark: luxury for the few or survival for the many. The auction of Truong My Lan’s handbags is a microcosm of a global system where wealth is hoarded at the expense of the planet.
In the end, the bags sold for a fraction of their retail value. The true cost, however, is borne by a warming world.
