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

Author : Boesen Zhou | Published On : 19 Sep 2026

Each Hermès bag comes with a story, a waiting list, or both. The house makes far more than the two icons everyone knows. Below we break down the different Hermès bag names, the purpose of each style, rough pricing, and which ones are actually available to walk-in buyers.

If a specific model brought you here, jump to its section below. reddit to the brand? Read top to bottom — the styles are ordered by how difficult they are to obtain.

Quota Bags Explained: Birkin and Kelly

Each year, Hermès restricts how many of its two flagship bags any client can purchase. These are what collectors call 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

The Birkin is the most famous handbag in the world. It is a structured tote with two top handles, a turn-lock closure, and 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. Pre-owned, popular sizes and colors command $20,000 and up. Diamond-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. Grace Kelly made it famous in 1956, and the house renamed the bag after her.

Pricing lands close to the Birkin: about $10,000–$11,500 retail, depending on size and leather. The mini Kelly bag — the Kelly 20 — is presently the toughest to obtain, with resale often at twice retail.

Kelly vs Birkin, summed up: the Kelly is more formal and fully closes with its flap, while the Birkin is casual, roomier, and quicker to access.

Non-Quota Styles You Can Realistically Buy

You may still wait at busy boutiques, but no annual limit applies to these styles. https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1fVxz_ne1Iw1uWlnrdCLecU4F46Hjnwvt?usp=sharing consider this the smartest place to spend.

Hermès Constance Bag

This structured shoulder bag with the large "H" clasp is the closest Hermès comes to a logo bag. The Constance moves from day to evening easily and keeps its value almost on par with the quota bags. Pricing opens near $8,500 retail for the Constance 18.

Hermès Evelyne Bag

Hermès positions the Evelyne as its casual crossbody bag. It has a perforated "H" on the front, an open top with a tab closure, and a wide canvas strap. It was designed for grooming equestrian gear, which explains the ventilation holes. Priced near $3,500–$4,000, it is one of the easiest everyday Hermès bags to actually own.

Hermès Lindy Bag

The Lindy is a relaxed double-zip bag that carries by hand or on the shoulder. Its relaxed shape makes it a favorite for travel. The Mini Lindy has become the trend piece of the line in recent years.

Hermès Picotin Bag

The Picotin is a small open bucket bag inspired by a horse's feed bag. No lining, no hardware fuss — just a lock-through closure. When people search for a Hermès bucket bag, this is the one they mean. Starting near $3,000, it is often cited as the cheapest Hermès bag in leather.

Hermès Garden Party Bag

A practical canvas-and-leather tote for daily errands. As the workhorse of the range, the Garden Party is also among the easiest styles to find in store. Expect to pay how to get a hermes bag in paris for all-leather editions; the canvas blend keeps the entry price accessible.

Other Hermès Bag Names Worth Knowing

The catalog runs deep. These names surface again and again in boutiques and across the resale market:

Bolide — a rounded zip-top design and one of the first zippered handbags in history.
Roulis — a compact shoulder style with a distinctive clasp, for those who find the Constance too loud.
Herbag — a canvas body under a leather Kelly-style flap, with interchangeable bags on a single frame.
Geta — a small curved crossbody in Swift leather, launched in 2022 and still in demand.
Victoria — a soft, unstructured travel and everyday tote.
Della Cavalleria — the house's saddle bag silhouette, with a clasp drawn from equestrian hardware.
In-the-Loop — a modern bucket silhouette whose 18 size does brisk business on the pre-owned market.
24/24, Halzan, Jypsière, Kelly Danse — versatile shoulder and crossbody styles that convert between carries.

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

How Much Is a Hermès Bag?

The short answer: anywhere from roughly $3,000 to well over $100,000. A realistic ladder looks like this:

Entry level (canvas and small leather): Herbag, Garden Party canvas, Picotin — about $3,000–$4,500
Everyday leather styles: Evelyne, Lindy, Bolide — about $3,500–$9,000
Structured icons: Constance, Kelly, Birkin — roughly $8,500–$13,000+ retail
Exotics and rare pieces: crocodile, ostrich, and limited runs — from $30,000 into six figures

Retail prices climb most years, and quota bags typically resell at 1.5–2x retail.

Getting a Hermès Bag: What Actually Works

Walk-in stock exists for Evelyne, Picotin, Garden Party, and similar styles, especially at larger boutiques. 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.

Going 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 typically reveals itself through machine-perfect stitching and flimsy hardware. When in doubt, use a professional authentication service — the price of the check is trivial next to the price of the bag.

Vintage Hermès bags reward buyers in their own way. Older Kellys and Bolides often cost less than new non-quota styles and carry patina no new bag can fake.

What Should Your First Hermès Bag Be?

If you want one answer: the Evelyne for casual daily use, the Constance if you dress up more often, and the Picotin if you want the lowest-cost entry 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 plus Birkin vs Kelly deep dive.