Balenciaga · Tier 3

City

Name: Balenciaga City Small
Brand: Balenciaga

Catalogued July 2026

The Classic City, Balenciaga's motorcycle bag, is the slouchy lightweight shoulder bag that defined mid-2000s It-bag culture. Designed under Nicolas Ghesquière, it grew out of his earlier First and Lariat prototypes and is recognizable by its buttery distressed lambskin, front zip pocket, whipstitched handles, and buckle-and-stud hardware with a mirror and leather tassels on the zip pulls. It carries with both handles or a detachable shoulder strap. The motorcycle line launched in the early 2000s, with the City version dated variously between 2001 and 2003.

Choose your City

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Size

Nano MiniSmallMedium S Unknown

Colour

Black WhiteGreyMetallic Anthracite Unknown

Material

Leather Suede Lambskin Goatskin / ChevreUnknown

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Made in

What the house has produced this bag in, from our sourced records.

Material

Lambskindefault, Goatskin / Chevre

Seasonal: Grained Calf

Hardware

Silverdefault, Gold

Seasonal: Rose Gold, Giant

Permanent finishes are offered year-round; seasonal ones rotate and retire. A finish being listed here doesn’t mean we have one for sale right now.

The grey shades we’ve recorded (17)

Red86Blue77Gray72Black68Purple67Neutral39Multicolor35Pink32White29Cream23Burgundy20Pattern Prints16Silver10Beige9Neutrals2Navy Blue1Yellow1

Shades recorded from resale listings, in the sellers’ own words. Chanel doesn’t publish official seasonal colour names, so treat these as descriptions, not house names.

What it's worth

Balenciaga · City · Small · Grey

This exact variant · 748 recorded prices

Best listed right now: $343 on The Luxury Closet, well below the typical price (median $1,650).

Demand is light and prices are soft, so there's little pressure to move fast.

No longer in production, so resale is the only way to buy it.

By condition · compared like-for-like

excellent

44 prices

very good

64 prices

good

3 prices

$395$1,750

Estimated from recorded resale prices (built from 724 asking + 24 sold prices · 637 with condition unrecorded) · not an appraisal. As of 2026-08-27.

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Where it stands

#138

of 536 styles in the LC Index

✦One number for where a bag stands in the whole market.
⚖Blended from price, trade volume, and scarcity.
◷Recomputed monthly from recorded market prices.

Our index, not a verdict. How we rank

The three measures behind #138

By priceof 536 styles

#235Pallas · Louis Vuitton
#236City · Balenciaga
#237Turenne · Louis Vuitton

By trade volumeof 536 styles

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Bag DNA

What this bag is made of. Tap any part to explore the rest of the catalog.

BHouseBalenciagaest. 1919 · France ColourGrey

Guides for this bag

Articles on the City and Balenciaga from our verified experts.

Balenciaga authentication: The markers worth checking
One of the hardest houses to authenticate, with an exception to nearly every rule. The Lampo zip, notched rivets, bale shape, and tag-wording eras on a City or First, all weigh-points, never a standalone verdict.
By Arielle · City

Photos

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