Why Hermès Is Winning The World Cup, Too

Insights from Hermès' presence this World Cup. But let's go España, though.

This year’s World Cup soccer tournament, the most watched sporting event in the world, has turned into something of its own fashion week. Or, several fashion weeks.

I mean, remember when we saw the team from the Democratic Republic of the Congo arrive at the tournament wearing coordinated black suits with leopard print lapels, made by designer Alvin Mak? Or how the French national team has been warming up in a kit made in collaboration between Nike and Jacquemus, with the Spanish team sponsored by Loewe? And, have you seen all those pink cleats??

Specifically, though, discourse surrounding the menswear fashion of this year’s World Cup players has been dominated by talk of their handbags. And perhaps no handbags have seen as much exposure as Hermès’.

Max Berlinger wrote a great piece in Vogue highlighting the handbags of the French national team, featuring star players Ousmane Dembélé and Rayan Cherki carrying Hermès Haut à Courroies (HAC) bags. Spanish star Lamine Yamal then showed off his Hermès bag on Instagram (a brown leather Birkin), and Norway’s Erling Haaland flaunted his collection of Hermès bags, which includes several HACs and Birkins, too.

Of course, this is all great press for Hermès. Based on analyses I ran on search traffic from Google and Pinterest, online articles, and their sentiment, I found that Hermès’ popularity is up 45% since the World Cup kicked off, versus the rest of 2026 on average.*
*The data collected for this analysis was in English and specific to the US region.

And while it’s expected that a brand’s popularity would rise after so many high-profile athletes wear it across a short period of time, the World Cup is just one piece of Hermès’ story lately. Let’s discuss.