Hermès Bag Types: Every Style and Name Explained hermes bag kelly bag

Author : McHugh Rivera | Published On : 19 Sep 2026

Behind every Hermès bag there is a story, a waitlist, or both. Hermès offers much more than the two bags everyone recognizes. This guide covers the different Hermès bag names, what each style is for, roughly what they cost, and which ones you can actually walk in and buy.

If you already know the model you want, jump to it below. Starting fresh? Go in order, since the styles are grouped by availability.

Birkin and Kelly: The Quota Bags

Each year, Hermès restricts how many of its two flagship bags any client can purchase. Collectors call these the quota bags. You cannot just walk in and order one. Boutiques reserve them for established clients, so secondary-market prices for both run well past retail.

Hermès Birkin Bag

No handbag in the world is more famous than the Birkin. The design is a structured top-handle tote: two straps, a turn-lock closure, no shoulder strap. You will most often see it in the 25, 30, and 35 sizes.

Retail Hermès Birkin bag prices begin near $11,000–$12,000 for a Togo leather 25 and rise sharply for exotic skins. On the secondary market, expect $20,000 and up for popular sizes and colors. hermes womens cross body bag -encrusted crocodile Birkins hold the record as the most expensive Hermès bags, with auction prices in the hundreds of thousands.

Hermès Kelly Bag

Older and more refined, the Hermès Kelly bag pairs a single top handle with a sculpted flap and a removable shoulder strap. You can choose between two builds — the rigid Sellier and the softer Retourne. The bag shot to fame with Grace Kelly in 1956, and the house eventually named it after her.

Kelly prices sit close to Birkin territory: roughly $10,000–$11,500 retail depending on size and leather. The mini Kelly bag (the Kelly 20) is currently the hardest of all to get, and resale prices often double retail.

Kelly vs Birkin, summed up: the Kelly is dressier and closes fully with its flap; the Birkin is more casual, roomier, and faster to get in and out of.

Icons You Can Actually Order (No Quota)

Busy boutiques may test your patience, but these styles carry no yearly cap. For many buyers, this is where the smart money goes.

Hermès Constance Bag

A structured shoulder bag with the big "H" clasp — the closest thing Hermès has to a logo bag. It transitions from day to night and retains value nearly as well as the quota bags. Retail starts around $8,500 for the Constance 18.

Hermès Evelyne Bag

The Evelyne is the house's casual crossbody bag. It features a perforated "H" front, a tab-closure open top, and a wide canvas strap. It was designed for grooming equestrian gear, which explains the ventilation holes. At roughly $3,500–$4,000, it is one of the most attainable everyday Hermès bags.

Hermès Lindy Bag

The Lindy is a relaxed double-zip bag that carries by hand or on the shoulder. The soft silhouette has made it a go-to for travel. Lately, the Mini Lindy has emerged as the trend piece of the family.

Hermès Picotin Bag

The Picotin takes its shape from a horse's feed bag — a small, open bucket design. No lining, no hardware fuss — just a lock-through closure. Anyone looking up a Hermès bucket bag is really looking for this. With a starting price around $3,000, it regularly comes up as the cheapest leather Hermès bag.

Hermès Garden Party Bag

This is the practical canvas-and-leather tote for everyday errands. The Garden Party serves as the range's workhorse and is one of the simplest styles to locate in a boutique. All-leather versions carry higher prices, while the canvas mix keeps entry costs down.

More Hermès Bag Names Worth Knowing

The catalog goes deeper than most realize. You will see these styles constantly in boutiques and on resale platforms:

Bolide — a rounded zip-top bag, one of the first handbags ever made with a zipper.
Roulis — a compact shoulder bag with a distinctive metal clasp; a quieter alternative to the Constance.
Herbag — canvas body with a leather Kelly-style flap; interchangeable bags on one frame.
Geta — a petite curved crossbody in Swift leather that debuted in 2022 and remains in demand.
Victoria — a soft, unstructured travel and everyday tote.
Della Cavalleria — the maison's saddle bag design, its clasp lifted straight from equestrian hardware.
In-the-Loop — a modern bucket-shaped style, popular in the 18 size on the pre-owned market.
24/24, Halzan, Jypsière, Kelly Danse — flexible shoulder and crossbody styles built to convert between carries.

On the men's side, the Haut à Courroies (the Birkin's ancestor), the Steve messenger bag, and the Cityback line anchor the Hermès men's bag range.

How Much Does a Hermès Bag Cost?

In short: from around $3,000 to far beyond $100,000. A realistic ladder looks like this:

Entry (canvas and small leather): Herbag, Garden Party canvas, Picotin — roughly $3,000–$4,500
Daily leather: Evelyne, Lindy, Bolide — about $3,500–$9,000
Structured icon tier: Constance, Kelly, Birkin — around $8,500–$13,000+ at retail
Exotic skins and rarities: crocodile, ostrich, and limited pieces — $30,000 into six figures

Prices rise most years, and secondary-market prices for quota bags typically sit 1.5–2x retail.

How to Get a Hermès Bag

Larger boutiques often carry walk-in stock of the Evelyne, Picotin, Garden Party, and similar styles. To land a Birkin or Kelly, your realistic options are building purchase history with a sales associate or going pre-owned through a reputable reseller.

If you go pre-owned, authentication is everything. Know how to tell if a Hermès bag is real before parting with money: examine the heat stamp, the hand-sewn saddle stitch (slightly angled), the hardware engravings, and the blind stamp. A fake Hermès bag is usually betrayed by machine-perfect stitching and lightweight hardware. Unsure? A professional authentication service costs a fraction of what the bag does.

Vintage Hermès bags reward buyers in their own way. An older Kelly or Bolide often undercuts new non-quota styles on price and carries patina no new bag can replicate.

Which Hermès Bag Should You Buy First?

Want a single answer? The Evelyne for casual days, the Constance for dressier lifestyles, and the Picotin for the cheapest route into Hermès leather. Save the Birkin or Kelly for when you know the house — or choose authenticated pre-owned and bypass the waitlist completely.

More on this topic: our Hermès leather guide and Birkin vs Kelly deep dive.