Did you catch the hubbub around the first viral fashion item of 2025? For a brief moment this year, the Walmart Birkin was the must-have social media bag of the holiday season. And for marketers, the discount alternative to the luxury Birkin bag offers an interesting case study into how name-brand items fare in online and media conversations when their duplicates go viral. We used our social listening and analytics solution to learn more about the virality around the Walmart Birkin and how it has impacted Hermès Birkin buzz.
What is the Walmart Birkin?
The bags informally known as Walmart Birkins, or Wirkins, were dupes of luxury brand Hermès’s iconic Birkin bag sold at the chain retailer. Unlike Birkins, which cost tens of thousands of dollars, the original Wirkin was only about $80. Just before Christmas, the Walmart bag, made by a third-party seller, began trending online. Soon, it went viral, generating a slew of discussions about exclusivity, value, and “dupe culture".
What is dupe culture?
Dupes, short for “duplicates”, are cheaper, alternative options for in-demand, high-end, or highly exclusive products. Unlike counterfeits, which claim to be the branded products they imitate, dupes are more affordable competitors sold by legitimate brands. Dupes are particularly hot in the beauty sector, with consumers flocking to platforms like YouTube and Instagram for influencer recommendations of the best drugstore dupes of luxury skincare and cosmetics.
This dupe review video from beauty influencer James Charles racked up 3.4 million views in 10 months.
In recent years, demand for dupes has exploded as more consumers strive to keep up with evolving style trends (as well as fleeting microtrends) without breaking the bank. And while dupe culture has created new complexities for high-end brands, some have used it to strengthen their identities. For example, in 2023, Lululemon hosted a “dupe swap” in Los Angeles that successfully appealed to new, Gen-Z consumers while reinforcing its unique selling points.
How viral was the Walmart Birkin?
From December 25, 2024, to January 12, 2025, there were about 6,300 mentions of the Wirkin across social media, as well as news and broadcast. In that period, the media that drove the most engagement was a YouTube video by luxury-on-a-budget content creator Autumn Beckman, which racked up more than 179,000 views in just two weeks. In it, she reviews the Wirkin and shares her recommendations of luxury handbags with comparable styles as the Birkin, but at lower price points. Within the 888 and counting comments left by viewers are numerous valuable perspectives about what budget- and style-conscious shoppers are looking for from their purchases. Budget luxury fans expressed valuing attributes like craftsmanship and emotional attachment. Meanwhile, Wirkin-owning commenters appreciated getting the designer look at a price they could afford without the hassle of paying and caring for an expensive item.
Posted on December 28, the video preceded the peak of the Wirkin’s virality on New Year’s Eve, when the bag was mentioned over 1,600 times across sources, including more than 600 times on broadcast channels alone. Interest in the Wirkin could have ended there, but conversation spiked again on January 3, when mentions on Reddit surged thanks to lively discussion in the r/handbags community. Finally, mentions spiked a third time on January 6, soon after TV personality, entrepreneur, and 2023 Meltwater Summit speaker Bethenny Frankel reviewed the Wirkin in an Instagram Reel.
In the video, which generated more than 28,000 likes in one week, Frankel walks viewers through the dupe bag’s differences from the Hermés Birkin, including stitching, leather quality, and interior lining. Though Frankel declared her preference for the original, her comments were full of people advocating for the Wirkin’s price point and availability.
So why did the Wirkin hit such a nerve? The discussion it sparked divided consumers on the question of what purchases are (and aren’t) financially and emotionally “worth it” to the people who buy them. On one side were Wirkin fans championing the bag for bringing an in-demand style to the masses. On the other side were not only Birkin and luxury fans but also vintage and slow fashion enthusiasts who value craftsmanship and quality over instant access to coveted trends. So while speculation abounded concerning how the Wirkin could impact consumer perceptions of Birkins, it essentially revealed, through videos like Beckman’s and Frankel’s, that each bag’s audiences are different.
How did the Walmart Birkin affect the Hermés Birkin?
Each time discussion about the Walmart Birkin rose it also boosted mentions of the Hermés Birkin, including on December 31, 2024, when mentions of both bags spiked. And while the January 3 surge in Reddit conversations about the Wirkin almost helped conversations about it surpass those of the original Birkin, Hermés still generated more than double the mentions of its alternative from December 25, 2024, to January 12, 2025. Overall, the Wirkin helped to boost the Birkin’s visibility.
Takeaways for marketers
- Budget-conscious luxury fans and dupe luxury fans aren’t necessarily the same audience. While both are looking for a good deal, the former may be more willing to play the waiting game to score the on-sale or secondhand finds that can deliver the name brand and quality they want. Plus, that wait only deepens their emotional investment in their purchase. By contrast, dupe fans may place more value on immediacy and convenience than brand loyalty.
- Dupes don’t automatically dilute the presence of the brands and products they duplicate. In some cases, they may have the opposite effect, enhancing the exclusivity attached to the original. When it comes to visibility, as we saw with the Wirkin, viral dupes can actually drive conversations about the originals — that’s the thing about dupes, you can’t talk about them without mentioning what they are duplicating. Brands on either side of the dupe/luxury divide can use those comparisons to their advantage, emphasizing the attributes, like affordability or quality, that made consumers love them in the first place.
