Passé. Hermès Kelly and Birkin Bags

IMAGE: GRACE KELLY

Hermès has a long history of producing luxury leather goods. The original atelier is still located on 24 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré and dates back all the way to 1880. The company started out in saddle making and slowly evolved into creating one of a kind jackets, luggage, and leather goods. Hermès’s most recognizable leather bag was designed in the 1935 named the “Sac à dépêches”. This bag was later named after actress Grace Kelly and called the “Kelly Bag”. Grace Kelly was seen using the famous bag to cover up her pregnancy from the paparazzi while walking down the street.  Years later in 1981 the chief executive of Hermès, Jean-Louis Dumas, during a flight from Paris to London he met actress Jane Birkin. Jane and Jean-Louis got to talking about her straw carryon bag and how she wishes she had a bag that would hold all of her things. 

IMAGE: JEAN-LOUIS DUMAS

Three years later 1984 Jean-Louis came out with the Birkin bag. The Birkin bag was a re-design of a previous leather bag from 1892 and similar in style to the Kelly bag. Kelly bags have only one handle, while Birkin’s have two. Like the Kelly bag, Birkin bags are each hand crafted and take nearly 18 hours per bag to produce. They now come in various colors depending on the season. Birkin bags can cost you anywhere from $9,000-$150,000 depending of the material and hardware used.  In an episode of Sex in the City, character Samantha has her eye on a Birkin and explains to Carrie that if she purchased a Birkin bag she will know she has “made it”. 

IMAGE: GRACE KELLY