6 Future Heirlooms That Are Guaranteed to Impress for Decades to Come

The way that I look at it, two types of fashion purchases: ones that are done with a "right now" mindset and ones that are made for the future. Both are completely necessary and justifiable. After all, maybe you need a new white tee because each one you own has makeup stains or you need a trendy piece of jewelry for a specific event. In these cases, a purchase made on a whim makes sense. Then there are the buys that take days, weeks, and even months of forethought. Those purchases are designed to live a long life, maybe even surpassing your lifetime and extending on for decades to come.

When it comes to future heirlooms like these, there are a handful of fashion items that instantly come to mind. You have iconic mainstays like the Dior Bar Jacket, Bulgari's Serpenti jewelry and timepieces, and Burberry trench coats. But there are also newer arrivals to the scene that are proving to be just as timeless and valued by the fashion community at large, such as The Row's Margaux Bag and Chanel's spring/summer 2024 Mary-Jane flats. Whichever route you take (classic or modern), the heirlooms below are guaranteed to impress for years. Correction: Forever. Scroll down to pick the one(s) you want to pass on to your kin.

If the lore around the Dior Bar Jacket is true, the iconic nipped-in silhouette got its name from the bar at the Plaza Athénée, a Paris locale that Christian Dior, who debuted the creation in 1947, frequented. Dior's Bar Jacket has taken on countless iterations in the 77 years since its hourglass shape made history, transforming with each new creative director at the helm of the French brand. Nonetheless, it's never stopped being a sought-after item, and with elegance and sophistication at the top of everyone in fashion's minds right now, it's arguably never been more in demand.

Last year, Roman jewelry house Bulgari—the jewelry is often spotted on ambassadors Zendaya and Anne Hathaway—celebrated 75 years of its Serpenti line, its most iconic collection that was designed all those years ago to represent metamorphosis and constant transformation. Its wraparound timepieces, bracelets, and rings, which really do adapt and grow stronger every season, are some of the most notable in the entire jewelry industry, not to mention desired, with fashion people everywhere trying to get their hands on one of Bulgari's two-tone cocktail watches or rose-gold chokers.

My grandmother used to collect Hermès scarves and I always thought about them, hoping that one day I'd get to call one of them mine. They were an item that one day, I could actually obtain; something that even now I can't say for certain about a Hermès handbag. When I finally did get one of the French brand's colorful and artfully detailed scarves, it felt like the ultimate style achievement. And that's something I, for one, would love to pass on to the next generation. Though less physically substantial than a Birkin or Kelly bag, Hermès' delicate scarves are embedded in fashion history.

Chanel's spring/summer 2024 collection provided something for the fashion community that's uncommon, to say the least: a future heirloom. We talk a lot about buzzy items that will spur people to shop and talk, but rarely do new releases immediately make the classics list. That, though, is exactly what I'm predicting for the black and white Mary-Jane flats that Virginie Viard sent down the runway at the French house's show back in October of 2023. Right now, they're everywhere, but the timeless design makes it so they won't fizzle out when the next big thing rolls around. They'll live on and hopefully become a staple of the brand for years to come.

Vogue said it best when it called The Row's Margaux Bag—which comes in a variety of sizes, materials, and colors—an "heirloom in the making," liking it to the Hermès Birkin bag. The open-top, top-handle tote is almost always sold out, especially now that The Row has pulled it back from third-party retailers and made it so you can only purchase a new Margaux from the brand's website or stores. And while its celebrity fan base (made up of names like Zoë Kravitz, Kendall Jenner, Jennifer Lawrence, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, and more) has certainly helped it rise to fame culturally. That isn't necessarily what's made the Margaux into a forever staple for fashion people, though. It's a simple, understated, and practical bag at the end of the day—one that owners of it go back to time and time again.

The 1900s marked the creation of the trench coat—a garment that does it all, touching on stylish, timeless appeal as well as practicality. In 1879, Thomas Burberry invented the material gabardine, an alternative to the heavy, hot rubberized cotton that was traditionally used in waterproof outerwear. At first, it was utilized in the military, but soon, its commercial success skyrocketed, so much so that according to Harpers Bazaar, by 1934, the outfitter's namesake brand had to set up same-day delivery in London to keep up with demand. Today, Burberry's trench coats have taken on hundreds of different aesthetic changes, though it's still a wardrobe staple that checks off both utilitarian and style boxes, allowing it to maintain its value and reputation over time.