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Published September 2026 · Contact
What Makes the Saigon Worth Knowing Well
The Saigon is Goyard's top-handle bag. Most versions are easy to recognise: a curved handle in pale wood, a leather flap held down by a strap, Goyardine canvas on the body and a detachable shoulder strap. It comes in more than one construction. The "Structure" version is rigid and trapezoid-shaped, with two wooden bars running up the front. The "Soft" (Souple) Mini has a softer leather body and the same wooden handle. There is also a larger Saigon Tote with leather handles, and sizes from Nano up.
Goyard publishes almost nothing about its products, so the easiest way to learn the Saigon is to look closely at genuine examples. That's what this guide does. It then shows the few fakes we have, and where they differ.
Worth knowing
This guide is built from LuxeDetect's own Goyard order archive. It holds 81 confirmed-authentic orders with "Saigon" in the name. We reviewed photos from 27 of them, including every photo in seven full sets. The archive also holds four confirmed-fake Saigons, all of the rigid Structure type, and we checked every photo of each. Four fakes aren't enough for a full real-vs-fake comparison, so this guide teaches genuine construction first. We'll upgrade it when we have more fakes.
The Wooden Handle and Its Metal Caps
On most of the genuine Saigons we reviewed, the handle is a single curved piece of pale wood with visible grain. Each end sits in a polished metal cap. The cap is held by a screw and hinges on a leather tab stitched to the flap. The tab is cut to a point and riveted through the leather.
Not every genuine Saigon has bare wood. A few in our sample, including a black Nano, had a dark handle instead. So check that the handle matches the listing and the rest of the bag, not that it's always wood.
The Side Bars on the Structure Saigon
The rigid Structure version has two wooden bars running up the front, one on each side of the flap. Each bar ends in a pointed metal cap at the top and bottom, fixed with a domed rivet, and more rivets run down the bar. The wood grain should be visible through the finish, the same as on the handle.
The Soft Mini and the Saigon Tote don't have these bars, so their absence on those versions is normal.
The Strap Buckle
The detachable shoulder strap adjusts with a polished metal buckle engraved "GOYARD" over "PARIS" on its wider top edge. On the genuine Saigons where we could see it, the buckle's finish matched the rest of the hardware.
The fakes had an engraved buckle too, so this confirms the right style, not the verdict.
The Base and the "G" Emblem
Turn a Structure Saigon over and you'll see a flat leather base with four metal feet, one near each corner, and Goyard's circular "G" emblem pressed into the leather in the middle. The same emblem is pressed into the leather elsewhere on the body.
The Interior Stamp
Inside the Structure Saigon, the lining is an ochre-yellow canvas. A leather strip runs along the top edge, blind-stamped (pressed without colour) "GOYARD / PARIS / MADE IN FRANCE" in three centred lines.
The Soft Mini is different. On the Soft examples we reviewed, the lining is a yellow pebbled leather, and the same three lines are stamped in silver foil.
So a blind stamp on canvas-lined bags and a foil stamp on leather-lined ones are both genuine. Match the stamp to the version you have.
The Heat-Stamped Code
Genuine Saigons carry a small heat-stamped code on an interior leather surface, usually near the top edge or on the underside of the flap. Every genuine code we could read had the same shape: three letters followed by six digits, such as "LAR 020213".
The code tells you the format is right, and nothing more. Our Goyard serial number guide covers where codes sit on other models. As the fakes below show, a correct-looking code proves very little.
What the Four Fakes Got Right, and What They Didn't
All four fakes were Structure-style Saigons. Checked against the sections above, most of it matched. They had a curved wooden handle in metal caps, wooden side bars with pointed caps, a buckle engraved "GOYARD PARIS", four base feet with the "G" emblem, and a blind-stamped "GOYARD PARIS MADE IN FRANCE" strip above an ochre canvas lining. From normal listing photos, they look right.
Two things stood out.
A woven "GOYARD" band inside. Three of the four fakes had a beige woven band with "GOYARD" woven into it, running across the inside wall below the leather strip. None of the four genuine Structure Saigons whose interiors we could see had one. Their lining runs straight from the leather strip into plain canvas.
The same code on two different bags. A green fake and a grey fake, submitted a few weeks apart, were both stamped "MBM 020165". The third fake read "LAR 020195". Genuine Saigons in our archive also start with MBM and LAR, so the letters alone don't catch these.
Worth knowing
These are observations from four fakes, not a rule. A woven band inside a Structure Saigon is a strong reason to look closer. A plain interior doesn't clear a bag, since one of our four fakes didn't have the band. The same goes for codes: if you find your bag's code on another listing, that's a warning sign, but a unique code proves nothing.
When to Get a Professional Opinion
The fakes above get the handle, the side bars, the buckle, the base and the stamp right, so a Saigon can look complete in listing photos and still be counterfeit. If you're buying a Structure Saigon near retail price, it's worth having it checked against verified references. Goyard's Saint Louis tote has its own guide, how to authenticate a Goyard Saint Louis, and the zip-top Goyard Artois is covered too.
LuxeDetect's handbag authentication costs $25 with a 24-hour turnaround, with faster options available. Send the front, the handle ends, a side bar, the base, the interior stamp, the heat-stamped code and the strap buckle. You'll get a written verdict you can show a seller or use to request a refund.
A code that checks out doesn't prove the item is real. Counterfeiters copy genuine codes.
Our authenticators check the stamps, hardware and construction of your Goyard against verified references, from $25. You get a verdict within 24 hours, and a Certificate of Authenticity if the item passes.
Authenticate My Goyard →FAQ
How can I tell if my Goyard Saigon is real?
Start with the handle caps, the side bars (on the Structure version), the strap buckle, the base feet and the interior stamp, and compare each with a genuine Saigon of the same version. A mismatch is a red flag. A match isn't proof, because the fakes we've seen get most of these right, so a professional check is the safer answer.
Where is the serial number on a Goyard Saigon?
It's heat-stamped on an interior leather surface, usually near the top edge of the bag or on the underside of the flap. On the genuine Saigons we reviewed it read three letters followed by six digits, for example "LAR 020213".
Does a genuine Goyard Saigon always have a wooden handle?
Most do, in pale grained wood with polished metal caps at each end. A few genuine Saigons in our sample, such as a black Nano, had a dark handle instead. Check that the handle matches the version and colour listed.
Is the lining of a Goyard Saigon canvas or leather?
It depends on the version. The rigid Structure Saigons we reviewed had ochre-yellow canvas lining with a blind-stamped leather strip. The Soft Minis had yellow pebbled leather lining with a silver foil stamp.
Is there a woven GOYARD band inside a real Saigon?
We didn't see one on any genuine Structure Saigon whose interior we could check. Three of our four fake Saigons had a beige woven band reading "GOYARD" across the inside wall. It's a reason to look closer, not proof on its own.
Can two Goyard bags have the same serial number?
We found two different fake Saigons stamped with the identical code "MBM 020165". Counterfeiters reuse codes, so a code that looks right isn't evidence the bag is genuine.
