Dearest gentle reader, we’re well into the new year, and there’s one colour you’ll be seeing everywhere. We’re probably the first ones to tell you about this, so listen up closely.
There’s almost ALWAYS that one colour that makes everything else in your closet feel… bland?
In 2026, the colour of the year is teal.
Teal is an extraordinary space between cyan and green. It's somewhere between come and confidence, and somehow it's become one of the most luxurious colours.
Here’s everything you need to know about why teal is the new power colour in luxury handbags.
Teal Changes Everything
Teal luxury handbags are so popular because the colour refuses to be defined by a single thing. It's not quite blue, but it's not quite green either. So that means it responds to light and hardware in ways that at most colours simply wouldn’t.
When pairing teal with gold hardware, the colour becomes richer, more regal and almost feels ancient. In a good way, of course. It's like the gold's undertones pull out the green and create something that is expensive yet deeply instinctive.
With silver hardware, or even palladium, the teal becomes cooler and sharper, and you suddenly see blue undertones.
There is a term for how the teal shape shifts: chromatic depth. It's almost like you're getting multiple handbags in one.
What the Great Houses Know About Teal
Hermès
We’ll be honest here, nobody does teal like Hermes.
First, there’s the Bleu Paon, or Peacock Blue, and it’s quite literally the headline shade. It’s named after the beautiful, iridescent tail feathers of a peacock, and the vivid shade of teal brings about extraordinary depth. Bags in Bleu Paon, particularly in Togo leather, have always been crowd pleasers. The colour looks beautiful in pictures, attracts immediate attention, and retains that quality of feeling special even after you’ve had the bag for years.
Next, there’s Colvert, named for the mallard duck. It’s slightly deeper and leans towards blue. This colour in Epsom leather creates micro-shadows due to the leather's pressed texture. We’d go as far as to say that Colvert almost looks 3D. It’s probably one of the most sophisticated shades Hermès has ever produced.
Last, but not least, we’ve got Vert Cyprès, a beautiful cyprus green colour. It leans more towards green than blue, but it’s still surprisingly one of the warmest Hermes teal colours in the family. With gold hardware, it looks vintage and aristocratic. This is the shade that turns a Birkin into an heirloom.
What connects these shades beyond their obvious beauty is value retention. Unlike seasonal bright colours, you know, the fuchsias and corals that collectors adore in the moment but struggle to sell five years later, Hermès teal shades hold their value remarkably well. They're rare enough to feel special. Wearable enough to stay desirable. The combination is almost unfairly good.
Chanel
Chanel’s relationship with teal isn’t as solid as with Hermes, but we love it nonetheless.
The iridescent teal lambskin pieces that have appeared through Cruise and Métiers d'Art collections are Chanel at its most adventurous with colour. When lambskin is dyed in the teal spectrum, its natural softness creates a surface that appears to shift between blue and green as it moves.
Exotic Skins is Where Teal Truly Shines
If you thought teal was beautiful on its own, then you’re yet to see it in its full form, and that’s in exotic skins. Exotic skins, whether that’s ostrich, lizard or even crocodile skin, aren’t uniform on the surface. Every quill mark, scale and subtle variation in the texture creates a slightly different angle of light absorption.
The blue and green pigments absorb differently across each variation in the surface. A single crocodile scale might appear teal at its centre and almost turquoise at its edge. The overall effect is three-dimensional. It’s almost like the colour appears to move, to breathe, to have depth.
That’s probably why exotic teal pieces are priced so high. You’re not paying for a simple, solid-coloured bag. You’re literally paying for something irreplaceable.
How to Style Teal Hangbags This Spring
Ladies, with the days getting longer and warmer, you’re probably wondering how to style teal handbags this spring and summer. Because let's be honest, understanding teal handbags is one thing, and knowing how to style them and look amazing while doing so is another.
Here are three ways that teal moves with confidence.
The Corporate Queen
9-5’s don’t have to be boring if you’ve got a teal Birkin (or Kelly) to dress up against a charcoal grey power suit.
The reason this works so well is that grey is a great neutraliser. It reduces everything around it to the background. Everything, that is, except teal. Against charcoal, teal doesn't compete. The colour reads as confident without being aggressive, distinctive without being decorative.
Finish with simple gold jewellery to match the hardware, but remember to keep everything else minimal. Let the bag do the talking.
The Summer Escape
There’s something irresistible about an all-white linen ensemble. Wide-leg trousers, an oversized shirt, simple sandals, and of course, a teal Chanel Flap to complete the look.
White amplifies teal in the same way a gallery wall amplifies art. There's no competition, no visual noise. Just the colour, doing exactly what it was designed to do.
This is the combination for the boat, the harbour restaurant, and the afternoon that turns into an evening.
Bleu Paon in Togo leather is the version to reach for here. The warmth of Togo has an affinity with sunlight that more structured leathers don't quite match.
The Evening Dinner Look
Look, we’re all tired of the "safe" black-tie choice: a black bag. It’s compact, discrete, and inoffensive. It matches everything because it decides nothing.
A teal clutch or minaudière at a black-tie event is a different argument entirely. Against the sea of black dresses and black bags that make up pretty much every formal event, teal is immediately, unmistakably itself.
Against a navy or black dress, a teal evening bag reads as jewellery. Against a white or ivory gown, it becomes the single, perfect note that makes the entire look sing.
Teal is the Steal this 2026!
Many people are shifting toward teal handbags, and it’s definitely the right move this year. Teal is the sort of colour that earns its place. It’s timeless and doesn’t disappear into the background the way that safe neutrals can.
If you're building a collection with an eye on both beauty and value retention, a teal exotic or a teal Hermès in good leather is one of the soundest decisions you can make.
It's the colour that designers are calling transformative. Luxury collectors have known this for years.
And if you're still building your relationship with statement bag colours, our guide to burgundy bags explores another power colour that the most considered collectors are reaching for right now.
Happy shopping, lovelies!
