The Row Margaux: Soft Margaux vs the Original, Specification by Specification
Put the difference between the Margaux and the Soft Margaux to five people and five confident, contradictory answers come back. It is understandable confusion, given that the two share a name, a silhouette and a set of signature buckles, and that the shopping situation around them changed sharply in 2025. Below is a specification-led comparison rather than an impression-led one, putting measurements, materials, closures, linings and observed prices side by side line by line. The material here is built on what the brand states on its product pages plus prices observed in the market in 2026, which remain observations rather than an official price list. Any figure that is not reliably documented is flagged as such rather than assumed, as the Margaux is the single most misquoted bag in the label’s catalogue. In short, the Soft is not a cheaper or lazier Margaux; it is the more equipped of the two. The longer version is set out below.
Two Bags, One Name, and One Confusing Year
The original Margaux is the flagship the brand built its handbag reputation on, an unlined-looking tote whose structure rests on leather thickness and panel shaping rather than from stiffeners. Related but specified separately, the Soft Margaux arrived with its own construction details and its own product pages. During 2025 the original was withdrawn from third-party retailers, and the brand’s own webstore now presents the Soft Margaux and the Margaux Shoulder rather than the original. Widely reported as discontinued, it has never been officially confirmed as such by the brand, and the distinction is not pedantry when you are deciding what to pay on the secondary market. What that means in practice is simple: the Soft Margaux is buyable new, and the original is a resale proposition. Anyone comparing the two is therefore comparing a current product against an archive one, which changes how the specification differences should be ranked.
The Spec Sheet, Compared Side by Side
The difference shows most cleanly when the features the Soft version adds are the row fashion official isolated and examined one by one. There are five of them, and together they change how the bag behaves in daily use rather than how it looks from across a street. The base is kept off the ground by protective metal feet. An interior toggle closure hands the open-top shape a way to close. Belted side gussets let the profile be cinched or released. A zip pocket and card slots convert a deep cavity into something organised. The table lays them out with observed 2026 figures for the versions still sold new.
| Spec | Soft Margaux 10 and 12 | Original Margaux |
|---|---|---|
| Protective metal feet | Fitted | Not in the specification |
| Interior toggle closure | Fitted as standard | Not part of the specification |
| Belted side gussets | Fitted as standard | Not in the specification |
| Zip pocket | Present on the 12 | Not in the specification |
| Card slots | A single slot on the 10, two on the 12 | Not specified |
| Price, observed 2026 | $3,650 and $4,350 | Resale market only |
Materials, Outside and In
Both the Soft Margaux 10 and 12 are stated as 100 percent calfskin in a matte grained finish, and both are lined in cotton herringbone. A lot about the brand’s priorities sits in that lining, because cotton herringbone inside is a textile decision rather than a branding one, holding shape without the plastic feel of a coated logo jacquard. The Margaux Shoulder 12 pushes further with a 100 percent lambskin lining, which is softer, marks more readily and costs considerably more to work with. Exterior materials across the wider family include grained calfskin, saddle calfskin, suede, canvas paired with leather, and nylon, which means a Margaux is not automatically a smooth-leather bag. On the brand’s own product pages, Made in Italy is stated for the Soft Margaux 10 and 12 and for the Margaux Shoulder 12. Suede and canvas versions feel different in the hand and, more importantly, behave differently on resale.
Buckles, Fittings and Handles
Hardware on the Soft Margaux is palladium-plated, and it is finished matte rather than polished, in keeping with the rest of the collection. What signs any Margaux is the pair of adjustable side buckles; on genuine examples they are engraved, and so are the base feet where feet are fitted. The buckles are functional rather than decorative, since they are what let the belted gussets change the width of the bag. A 5-inch handle drop is common to the Soft Margaux 10 and 12, which puts it in hand-carry or crook-of-the-elbow territory rather than shoulder territory, and both include a removable shoulder strap to cover the difference. The Margaux Shoulder 12 replaces that arrangement entirely with elongated tubular handles and narrowed gusseted side panels, so it is designed from the start to sit under the arm. Where the requirement is one The Row bag that goes hands-free without a strap, the Shoulder is the answer, not the Soft.
Sizes, and What the Numbers Mean
Because the number in the name is simply the bag’s width in inches, the family is easier to navigate than most. The Soft Margaux 10 measures in at 10 x 7 x 7.5 inches, genuinely compact with an unusual amount of depth for the footprint. The Soft Margaux 12 measures 12 x 9 x 7.5 inches, holding the same depth while adding two inches of width and two of height, and it is the size most buyers settle on for daily use. The Margaux Shoulder 12 measures 14.75 x 9 x 5 inches, so despite carrying a 12 in its name it is the widest and the shallowest of the three, because the number refers to the bag’s stated size rather than its maximum external span. A Soft Margaux 15 is in circulation, and a Margaux 17 in a leather-and-canvas execution has been carried by Selfridges. Neither of them has a verifiable retail price, so any figure quoted for them should be treated as an asking price rather than a documented one.
What They Cost and How Resale Reacts
Observed 2026 market pricing sets the Soft Margaux 10 at $3,650, the Soft Margaux 12 at $4,350 and the Margaux Shoulder 12 at $4,900. Those figures place the whole family in the collection’s top band, next to the India and Agnes top handles and the Marlo totes. The secondary market picture is an unusual one: the Rebag CLAIR 2025 report recorded the Margaux Tote at 107 percent value retention, inside a brand-level figure of 97 percent that lifted the label into the report’s unicorn tier for the first time. Looser secondary figures agree, with the Margaux reported to sell frequently at around 40 percent above retail, Fashionphile resale reported up roughly 44 percent year on year, and The RealReal reporting pre-owned Margaux sales averaging about 15 percent over original retail. New Margaux bags are placed in the $5,000 to $9,000 range by a major resale authenticator, which makes a useful sanity check: anything advertised in the hundreds is almost certainly counterfeit. None of this is investment advice, and it is worth keeping in mind that canvas, nylon and seasonal-colour versions discount rather than appreciate.
Choosing Your Version
Want the bag you can actually purchase new, with a warranty of availability and the fuller specification? The Soft Margaux is the straightforward answer. Pick the 10 for light carrying and the shape at its most sculptural; pick the 12 for a working bag, as the second card slot and the zip pocket only appear at that size. Take the Margaux Shoulder 12 if you carry under the arm rather than in the hand, since its tubular handles and narrowed gussets are built for exactly that. Only pursue the original on resale if the archive version is specifically what you want and you are comfortable going without metal feet, a toggle closure or interior organisation. Whatever you choose, remember there is no public authenticity coding system from the brand at all, which leaves verification to stitching, hand-painted edges, stamp placement and the weight and finish of the hardware. If resale matters, buy black or neutral calfskin, and if it does not, buy whatever colour you like.
- Start with hand-carry or shoulder, because that separates Soft from Shoulder straight away
- Size comes next: the 10 for occasion carry and the 12 for daily use
- Material follows, and remember that canvas and seasonal colours discount on resale
- Consider an original on the secondary market only at that point