Everyday Luxury Mules The Row Crossbody Bag
Soft Margaux vs the Original Margaux at The Row, Spec by Spec Ask five people what the difference is between the Margaux and the Soft Margaux and you will get five confident, contradictory answers. The confusion is understandable, because the two bags share a name, a silhouette and a set of signature buckles, and because the shopping situation around them shifted 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. Everything here comes from what the brand states on its product pages and from prices observed in the market in 2026, which are observations rather than an official price list. Where a figure is not reliably documented, this article says so rather than guessing, since the Margaux is the single most misquoted bag in the label’s catalogue. The short answer is that the Soft is not a cheaper or lazier Margaux — it is a better equipped one. The full version is below. One Name, Two Bags, and a Complicated Year An unlined-looking tote that takes its structure from leather thickness and panel shaping rather than stiffeners, the original Margaux is the flagship the brand’s handbag reputation was built on. The Soft Margaux arrived as a related but separately specified bag, with its own construction details and its own product pages. In 2025 the original disappeared from third-party retailers, and the brand’s own webstore now shows the Soft Margaux and the Margaux Shoulder instead of 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. Practically speaking, the Soft Margaux is the one you can buy new and the original is now a resale proposition. The comparison is thus between a current product and an archive one, and that changes the weight the specification differences should hold. Side the row mini shoulder bags by Side on the Spec Sheet Isolating the features the Soft version adds and checking them one at a time is the cleanest way to see the difference. Five features in all, and collectively they alter how the bag behaves in daily use rather than how it reads from across a street. The base is kept off the ground by protective metal feet. An interior toggle closure gives the open-top shape a way to shut. Belted side gussets make the profile adjustable, cinched or released. A zip pocket and card slots transform a deep cavity into something organised. The table sets these out with the observed 2026 figures for the versions sold new. Spec Soft Margaux 10 and 12 Original Margaux Protective metal feet Included Absent from the specification Interior toggle closure Present Not part of the specification Belted side gussets Present Not part of the specification Zip pocket On the 12 Absent from the specification Card slots A single slot on the 10, two on the 12 Absent from the specification Price, observed 2026 $3,650 and $4,350 Available on resale only Materials and Linings The Soft Margaux 10 and 12 are each given as 100 percent calfskin in a matte grained finish, with cotton herringbone lining in both. That lining choice tells you quite a lot about the brand’s priorities, because a cotton herringbone interior is a textile decision rather than a branding one, and it holds shape without adding the plastic feel of a coated logo jacquard. Further up, the Margaux Shoulder 12 is lined in 100 percent lambskin, softer and more easily marked and considerably more expensive to work with. The wider family covers grained calfskin, saddle calfskin, suede, canvas paired with leather, and nylon on the outside, so no one should assume a Margaux is a smooth-leather bag. The brand’s own product pages state Made in Italy for the Soft Margaux 10 and 12 and for the Margaux Shoulder 12. Suede and canvas versions seem different in the hand and, more importantly, behave differently on resale. Hardware and How You Carry It Hardware on the Soft Margaux is palladium-plated and finished matte rather than polished, in keeping with the rest of the collection. The signature element on any Margaux is the pair of adjustable side buckles, and on genuine examples those buckles are engraved, as are the base feet where feet are fitted. Those buckles do real work rather than decoration: they are what lets the belted gussets change the width of the bag. The Soft Margaux 10 and 12 both run a 5-inch handle drop, which is a hand-carry or crook-of-the-elbow measurement rather than a shoulder one, and both include a removable shoulder strap to cover the difference. The Margaux Shoulder 12 swaps that arrangement out entirely for elongated tubular handles and narrowed gusseted side panels, so it is built from the start to sit under the arm. If you want a single The Row bag that works hands-free without a strap, the Shoulder answers that rather than the Soft. Sizes and What the Numbers Mean The number in the name is only the width of the bag in inches, which makes the family easier to navigate than most. The Soft Margaux 10 comes 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, keeping the same depth while gaining two inches of width and two of height, and that is the size most buyers settle on for daily use. The Margaux Shoulder 12 comes in at 14.75 x 9 x 5 inches, which makes it the widest and shallowest of the three despite the 12 in its name, as the number refers to the bag’s stated size rather than its maximum external span. A Soft Margaux 15 is in circulation, while a Margaux 17 in a leather-and-canvas execution has been carried by Selfridges. Retail prices for those two
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