Your new summer bag is a take on grandma’s coin purse

Do you fancy yourself as Lady Bridgerton? Carrying illicit notes for your lover in a tiny coin purse whose click perhaps gave away your secret to the entire ton? If you think of yourself as a modern fire-starter, you may be a little partial to the new legion of kiss-lock bags that have taken over luxury store fronts and the high street.

What is a kiss-lock bag, you ask? It’s a bag or pouch with a metal frame and a vintage clasp closure, where two metal knobs “kiss” shut with a satisfying click. The body could be leather, chainmail, metal or canvas, but regardless of material it’s a look that’s a little bit retro, kind of like grandma’s old coin purse, without seeming dated. The real charm of these bags, though, is in the ceremony of opening or closing it. Millennials will confess to the joy of snapping shut a flip phone, the prim satisfaction of banging the door on someone who was not welcome, or the satisfying crack of a ball hitting the sweet spot on the tennis racket. The ‘click’ of the kiss-lock closure offers that same smug satisfaction of a job finished…without the actual damage.

Luckily, the kiss lock is having a moment again, mostly championed by Coach, whose giant Kisslock Frame bag made an appearance in And Just Like That... and who, since then, have leaned into the style’s popularity. For spring/summer 2026 they debuted their newest Kisslock Barrel bag, a tubular shoulder bag with a little compartment on the side that’s fastened with the metal clasp; at the show, models also walked out with little coin purses dangling from lanyards around their necks. Stuart Vevers, creative director of the all-American brand, has jokingly apologised for their OG Kisslock Frame bag constantly selling out, while also pointing out that they were introduced to the house by Coach’s first creative director, Bonnie Cashin, in the late 1960s.

But Coach is not the only one playing with this retro style. Last year Jacquemus sent out a skinny clutch with an oversized, jewellery-like clasp and Jil Sander offered a minimal east-west bag with a bamboo top handle. Dior, meanwhile, sent out one made entirely of metal mesh for haute couture spring/summer 2026. For customers like us (and Billie Eilish, who carried a black leather kiss-lock by Swedish brand Hodakova to the Grammys this year), the roomier, more practical take on grandma’s coin purse is a sweet reminder of simpler, chicer times.

Luckily, there are plenty of options apart from Coach—Max Mara, Miu Miu, and Vivienne Westwood all have a contemporary take on the kiss lock. Closer home, you have options from Khara Kapas, a louche style from Cord, Payal Khandwala’s buttery-soft suede one that’s strictly for grownups, or a boxy, handcrafted leather number from Nappa Dori that also has our vote. The best part of it all? You’ll never forget to close your bag.