Well, I think I can weigh in some on this.
So my first Goyard (I have only Hermes, Moynat, and a Faure le Page bags so far) was an Artois. This has become my preferred work bag as the canvas is so much thicker than the St. Louis and the zipper makes it a lot easier to throw underneath the plane seat (I travel a lot for work). I had hoped my zippered Faure Le Page would fit that bill since the canvas on it feels thicker but for me it narrowed too much in the base that I felt like my computer would sit awkwardly in it.
Anyhow - long story short and more to the point of your ask - I couldnt get out of my head how effortless and "soft" in a great way that the St Louis is. My Artois is thick and it is much more firm. I wanted that kind of soft bag that I could fold in on itself, that I could fold into my suitcase and would be super flexible and light. So while in NYC this week I felt like I HAD to get a St. Louis GM.
One thing that I noticed on my new bag is that the handles are finished much like my Artois handles and I don't think I will be seeing cracking. The new handles that I have on my Goyard don't appear to have been coated with a wax like puffy paint but are rather seem more burnished and reminds me similarly of edging paint folks like Hermes uses.. here is the pic of the traditional handles of the St. Louis and then my new one.
First pic is a close up of handles posted on this forum before
The second is the new handles
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