Hermès, more than anything else, is known for its luxurious handbags. Desired the world over for their style, heritage, and quality, Hermès handbags are forever in demand, most especially the triumvirate of Hermès’ most-known and beloved styles: the Birkin, the Kelly, and the Constance.
Over its 187-year history, Hermès has produced many bag styles, some of which have been continuously produced and enjoyed since they were introduced; other styles are cycled in and out of production, and still others are only found in vintage shops and archives.
The Birkin, Kelly, and Constance are truly styles every bag lover should know, but Hermès produces many other classic, elegant, and useful bags to suit every taste and style.
The 10 Hermès Bags You Should Know
- The Hermès Birkin
- The Hermès Kelly
- The Hermès Constance
- The Hermès Bolide
- The Hermès Evelyne
- The Hermès Garden Party
- The Hermès Jige
- The Hermès Jypsiere
- The Hermès Lindy
- The Hermès Trim
The story of Hermès bags began in 1837 when harness-maker and founder Thierry Hermès opened a workshop and began making saddlery.
From the beginning and through six generations, Hermès has maintained its values of quality, timelessness, usefulness, innovation, beauty, and social responsibility.
The importance of making beautiful but useful objects that would withstand the test of time has always been front and center for this continuously family-owned business, which is why it has maintained a reputation for excellence since the 1800s.
Hermès started producing bags as an outgrowth of its saddlery; their very first bag, the Haut á Courroies (HAC), was designed in 1892 by Thierry’s son, Charles-Émile, in collaboration with his own sons Émile and Adolphe, for carrying saddles and boots.
Over the years, the HAC’s distinct design has become incredibly influential in many of Hermès’ most popular offerings; important elements have not only been incorporated into bag designs but also into popular items from nearly every department.
The Hermès Birkin
The Birkin is arguably the most famous and coveted of all of the bags Hermès produces, if not the most famous handbag style in the world, having been immortalized in many aspects of popular culture over the past few decades, from photography to film to social media.
Its shape—essentially a slightly east-west rectangle with top handles and straps across the front—is immediately recognizable not only by most bag lovers but also by most of their spouses and partners.
The Birkin’s cultural significance began during a fateful flight from Paris to London, when French singer-actress (and mother of three) Jane Birkin was seated next to then-Hermès CEO Jean-Louis Dumas. Frustrated with her straw travel bag, Birkin complained to Dumas, who asked her what she would do to improve it.
The seatmates spent their flight adapting the HAC into a design that would be more useful for the modern woman who, like Birkin, juggled work and children. The result of their collaboration, which Dumas named after her, became popular almost immediately after it began production in 1984.
As a tote bag featuring a front flap that hooks over a turnlock (the bag can be locked over built-in straps via the included lock and keys) and interior slip and zip pockets, the Birkin is easy to use: as the bag is wider than it is deep, items are easier to search for inside the bag; it is proportionally slim for a tote, and the flap-and-strap design gives it a versatile, casual-but-structured appearance.
It is produced in the 25, 30, and 35cm sizes, with the 25 cm size currently being the most popular; the 20 cm size has recently begun production (mostly in exotic leathers or in the Birkin Faubourg variation) so it is still rare.
The 40 cm size can sometimes still be found; there is also 45cm size produced for travel. Each Birkin takes a single artisan approximately 15-20 hours to make.
The Hermès Kelly
The Kelly has a rich history dating back nearly 100 years. In 1935, Robert Dumas designed a bag for his wife; the style, which he named the Sac à Dépêches, took major design elements from the Haut à Courroies (HAC) bag, which was designed in the 1850s. It was also influenced by the Monaco bag (which is fitting in a somewhat karmic way).
The bag, which was known as “the ladies’ bag with straps”, was renamed the “Kelly” in 1956, when movie star-turned-Princess of Monaco Grace Kelly famously used her Dépêches to hide her pregnancy from the paparazzi; those photos appeared everywhere, making the bag incredibly popular, and Hermès renamed it for her as a result.
The Kelly is produced in both the Sellier (rigid – external stitching) and Retourne (soft – internal stitching) structures for sizes 25, 28, 32, and 35 cm; the 20 cm Mini Kelly is only produced in the Sellier structure. Larger sizes like the 40 cm and the Maxi are still produced but are rare.
You can read our editorial on Hermès Kelly sizes here.
Over the years, the Kelly has undergone many design variations, including the Kelly Cut (clutch), the Kelly Ado (backpack), the Kelly Danse (waist bag), and the Dépêches 25 (wrist pouch); each of these variations is usually produced in either one or the other structure, depending on the style.
However, only the original Kelly design comes with the clochette, lock, keys (for sizes 25 and larger), and a strap.
The Hermès Constance
In the early 1960s, Jean-Louis Dumas was a regular customer of Victoire, a trendy boutique in Paris that attracted a young and fashionable clientele. In 1967, Dumas asked designer Catherine Chaillet, Victoire’s owner, to design a new handbag for Hermès.
Chaillet, who was pregnant with her fifth child at the time, began designing it immediately, and as soon as she was finished, she gave birth; the bag was named Constance, after Chaillet’s newborn daughter. The design was soon a favorite of Jacqueline Kennedy, who carried hers frequently, thereby garnering popularity and demand for the bag.
Another practical yet elegant design, with an adjustable shoulder strap and a large H clasp that opens and closes with ease via its spring mechanism, the Constance is currently produced in sizes 18 and 24 cm (older models were produced in sizes 23, 25 and 29 cm); previous years have also seen production of the Elan (an elongated east-west version) and the micro.
While most Hermès bags are produced in a variety of colors and materials, the Constance is the only bag which features a clasp that has also been produced in numerous colors and materials, including various colors of enamel and types of leather (except for diamonds, which are occasionally used for Birkin and Kelly hardware).
The Hermès Bolide
The zip closure was a new invention when then-CEO Émile-Maurice Hermès traveled to America in 1916. First noting the zipper on the cloth top of a car when he toured Henry Ford’s automobile factory, Émile-Maurice patented its design for use in France and, in 1923, utilized it as a closure for Hermès’ newest bag.
The bag’s design, which featured a rounded top, two handles and an oval patch suitable for monogramming, was initially called “le sac pour l’auto”, as it was intended to fit in a car’s trunk for automobile travel. The design was reimagined in 1982, adding the lock, clochette and key (for all sizes except the mini), and a removable shoulder strap.
Known for a time as the Bugatti, the bag was renamed Bolide (an old word meaning comet or meteor) in 1994.
The Bolide is currently produced in a variety of sizes and styles, including sizes 27, 31, and 35 cm (produced in both rigid “Rigide” and soft “Mou” structures) and the Relax 45, the streamlined 1923 in Mini, 25 and 30 cm, the Skate 31 and 65, and the whimsical Bolide on Wheels.
The Hermès Evelyne
Originally designed to carry horse grooming equipment, the Evelyne was based on the bag worn by stable boys.
The purpose of the holes on one side of the bag, patterned on the Evelyne in a large H encircled by a hoof print-like oval, was to ventilate the inside of the bag, allowing the grooming equipment to dry. First produced in 1978, the bag, which features a wide strap and an open top with a narrow snap closure, was named after Evelyne Bertrand, the head of Hermès’ riding department.
The Evelyne has a minimalist, sporty appeal. Usually worn crossbody, it was intended to be a light bag that could move with its owner. It has been produced in several versions, including:
- Evelyne I: fixed (non-adjustable) strap, no exterior pocket
- Evelyne II: fixed strap, exterior pocket
- Evelyne III: adjustable strap, exterior pocket
- Evelyne Sellier: rigid structure; embossed H Diamant instead of perforations
The versions in current production are the Evelyne III and the Evelyne Sellier, in sizes 16 (TPM), 29 (PM) and 33 (GM) cm.FN 31 (MM) and 40 (TGM) cm sizes have also been produced.
As to the timeless question – does one wear the perforated side against the body or facing outward? – we defer to Hermès’ suggestion:
“It was traditionally worn against the body, but aren’t rules meant to be broken?”
The Hermès Garden Party
The Garden Party is a traditional tote bag with sturdy, tubular handles and a large interior with a flat base. It has a single palladium Clou de Selle snap closure (some leather versions of the Garden Party have a zipper-top closure) and a set of snaps on each side to expand the bag when needed.
First released in 1964, the Garden Party is frequently produced in either canvas – making the Garden Party a light, durable bag – or Negonda leather. It is currently produced in sizes 30 (TPM), 36 (PM), and 49 Voyage (TGM).
There is also a slimmer, square version with an attachable canvas shoulder strap called the Garden File 28 and a cargo-style version, which is taller and more narrow with a shorter handle and external pockets, called the Garden Party Pockets Vertical.
The Hermès Jige
A superslim square-ish layout with reasonable evening-event capacity and an unquestionably Hermès design?
That’s the Jige.
Designed by Jean Guerrand (Émile Hermès’ son-in-law) as a wedding gift for his daughter-in-law and named after Guerrand’s initials (J.G.), the Jige was first made available for sale in 1975. This perfectly elegant clutch featuring an H-closure tucks neatly under your arm and works just as well at a business meeting as it does at a cocktail party.
The Jige has been produced in Mini, PM and GM sizes, plus the Elan (a more rectangular, east-west shape) in 29 and 35 cm. The Mini comes with a strap.
The Hermès Jypsiere
The Jypsiere, a messenger-style bag that can be worn crossbody or on the shoulder, was designed by Hermès’ then-creative director Jean-Paul Gaultier and was first presented with the Autumn-Winter 2008 collection.
Another design heavily influenced by aspects of the HAC – it has the front-flap-and-turnlock closure secured by a lock – Gaultier also utilized elements of a hunting bag. The Jypsiere additionally features a wide, adjustable shoulder strap and interior compartments.
The Jypsiere has been produced in sizes 28, 31, 34, and 37 cm, although recently, a mini size has also been produced.
The Hermès Lindy
The Lindy is another bag designed by former creative director Jean-Paul Gaultier. An elegant and casual design, the bag was named for a dance called the Lindy Hop, which was popular in the U.S. during the 1920s.
The Lindy was designed in 2006 and first presented with the Spring-Summer 2007 collection.
This is a uniquely shaped, oblong bag with handles on each end rather than on a side or top. When held, the bag folds in the middle, resembling a fortune cookie. A removable strap can be attached to both handles, transforming the tote into a shoulder bag.
The top is covered by a wide flap; zippers on each short side of the flap close the opening at each end, and the long side of the flap hooks over a turnlock closure. Each zipper features a long leather pull, and the end of the pulls meet in the middle of the bag, also hooking over the turnlock closure. There is also a pocket on each end below the handle.
The Lindy has been produced in sizes 26, 30, 34 and 45 cm. In Autumn-Winter 2019, Hermès began producing the very popular mini (20 cm) version. The mini is the same as the larger sizes, except the strap provided is longer so the mini can be worn crossbody, while the other sizes are worn on the shoulder.
The Hermès Trim
The Trim – a shoulder bag designed to be worn close to the body – is one of those truly classic, understated Hermès styles that seems deceptively simple but clearly was produced with a lot of thought put into its design.
With its slim profile and adjustable (but relatively short) shoulder strap, the weight of the bag is well-balanced on the shoulder, sitting under the wearer’s arm for both security and easy access to the bag’s contents. Adapted from a horse’s feed bag, the Trim was first produced in 1958 and became another of Jacqueline Kennedy’s favorite bags. There are several versions of the Trim, including:
- Trim I: no base (the sides meet at a bottom seam), no zipper
- Trim II: base, zipper
- Trim Duo, two pouch sections, each with its own base, laid out side by side, sharing a top closure zipper and shoulder strap
The versions currently in production are the Trim 24 Duo, the Trim 31, and the Trim 31 Anate, which is a Trim 31 with fringe.
