Paige Stansbury grew up shopping at Tory Burch.
Each year, she’d vacation in Texas and shop at Houston’s Galleria mall with her family. There, her grandmother always bought her a new pair of the designer’s monogrammed ballet flats.
“I never really liked them,” Stansbury, 23, admitted to Business Insider. “But my grandma, she gets me into everything. She’s a style icon.”
So, when Stansbury saw a photo of a Lee Radziwill bag from Tory Burch in 2022, the social-media marketing professional added one in the petite size to her holiday wish list.
It was her grandmother, of course, who bought it for her.
“My grandma said it’s the best bag and that I’d be obsessed with it,” Stansbury said. “I didn’t start wearing it until recently, but she was right.”
She loves her Lee Radziwill so much that she even made a TikTok video praising the purse. The post now has 2.3 million views, and countless comments from people who said they’re buying their own.
The latter is just one reason the style is becoming a fashion status symbol for 2026.
A socialite and her namesake bag
Though it’s gaining traction now, the Lee Radziwill line from Tory Burch isn’t new.
It was actually introduced in 2018 as an homage to its namesake, Lee Radziwill — a socialite, the sister of Jackie Kennedy, and a personal friend of designer Tory Burch.
The line features bags in various colors, sizes, and materials, all of which are square in shape. They also feature top shoulder straps and magnetic buckles across the front. They range in price between $520 and $1,320.
In June, Tory Burch began teasing a suede version of its Lee Radziwill bags on TikTok.
After posting numerous videos throughout the summer, celebrities like Jessica Alba, Mindy Kaling, Ciara, and Emma Roberts carried their own Lee Radziwill bags at New York Fashion Week in September.
One fan said in a TikTok that month that the brand was “relentlessly marketing” the style, which caught her attention. When she went to purchase the bag, though, it was already sold out.
Then, Stansbury’s TikTok post about her Lee Radziwill bag went viral in December. In the comment section of her video, shoppers seemed eager to get their hands on the purses.
“Do I need another bag? No. Will I be buying this bag? Clearly, yes!” one person wrote.
“That bag is so chic and exactly what I didn’t know I wanted,” another person commented.
Some styles have since sold out online, and the brand posted a TikTok video on Monday that described its Lee Radziwill purse as “the bag that broke the internet.”
Representatives for Tory Burch did not respond to a request for comment on the bag’s popularity and plans for future releases.
Chic and functional
Nicole King, 25, wasn’t always a fan of Tory Burch. That changed in 2022 when she got her first Lee Radziwill bag. Now, the full-time content creator has a collection of eight.
“I have this icy-blue suede one, and to this day, it’s the prettiest bag I’ve seen in my life,” King told Business Insider. “I always say that if there were ever a fire, that’s one of the items I would save.”
She’s also a big fan of the miniature version of the bag, which she said is more functional than you’d think. When she got her first one, King said, she wore it for four months straight.
“It was my go-to, and I carry a lot of stuff on me,” she said. “It’s also really easy to throw on. I forget that I’m carrying it.”
Then there’s Chelsea Clark, a 38-year-old healthcare marketing professional who grew up with Tory Burch accessories.
She told Business Insider that she’d been eyeing Lee Radziwill bags since 2020 and officially bought her own in November.
She chose one in teal for a few reasons. First, she’d had a color analysis done and learned that she’s a true winter. The bag matched her color palette. Second, she wanted something unique.
“The size was also a factor,” Clark said. “I’m 6 feet tall, and it’s hard to find bags that I feel look good on really tall women. Most bags are too small or too large, like a weekender. My Lee Radziwill is the perfect size.”
All three agreed that while the bags aren’t necessarily cheap, they’re worth splurging on.
“Some people have complained about the price, but at least it’s not $4,000 for something that will tarnish and break,” Stansbury said, adding that “$660 for a bag that will hold is a great price.”
Kelly is out, and Tory is in
Let’s not ignore the Hermès elephant in the room. Lee Radziwill bags, especially in the petite size, look a bit like Kelly bags from the famous French luxury brand.
They have similar shapes, matching buckle straps (or sangles, as Hermès refers to them), and are of a similar size. For many fans, that’s part of the appeal. Why spend months trying to buy a $10,000 bag when you can pay $660 for a similar style from Tory Burch?
Others see things differently. The bags have similarities, sure, and there’s no question that Hermès offers a flashier, more luxurious accessory — but some fans prefer Tory Burch’s design.
Clark said she particularly likes that the Lee Radziwill bags have flat bottoms with no feet and a variety of pocket options.
“There’s a timelessness to the bags,” she said. “The style of the Lee Radziwill, you can dress it up, or you can dress it down. I can’t tell what timeline this bag is from when I look at it. It always looks modern to me.”
And luckily for Tory Burch, it’s making the brand cool again.
Clark remembers a conversation with a young colleague in the recent past. She said they described the accessories brand to her as “cheugy,” or a cringy, millennial fad.
Thanks to Lee Radziwill bags, members of Gen Z are changing their tune.
“Every time I have it on me, someone compliments the bag,” Stansbury said. “It’s constant.”
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