Authentication is the process of determining whether a luxury bag is genuine. It involves examining multiple elements simultaneously: material quality, construction details, hardware weight and finish, stitching consistency, date codes or serial numbers, box and dust bag markings, receipts, and — for modern bags — embedded RFID chips.
No single element authenticates a bag on its own. Date codes can be faked; hardware can be sourced from the same suppliers; even receipts can be forged. Professional authentication is the synthesis of all available evidence assessed against documented examples of genuine bags from the same era.
Professional Authentication Services
Services like Entrupy (which uses AI analysis of microscopic material details), Real Authentication, and Authenticate First offer professional authentication reports. For purchases above a few hundred dollars, the £20–40 authentication fee is money well spent. Many major resale platforms — The RealReal, Fashionphile, Vestiaire Collective — authenticate in-house, though error rates are not zero.