Hermès Bag Types: Every Style and Name Explained hermes mallet bag 1930

Author : Petersson Haynes | Published On : 17 Sep 2026

Every Hermès bag has a story, a waitlist, or both. Hermès offers much more than the two bags everyone recognizes. In this guide you will find the different Hermès bag names, what each style does best, approximate prices, and which models you can realistically buy in store.

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

Quota Bags Explained: Birkin and Kelly

Hermès caps the number of its two flagship bags a client may buy per year. 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. Common sizes are the Birkin 25, 30, and 35.

Hermès Birkin bag prices start around $11,000–$12,000 retail for a Togo leather 25, and climb steeply with exotic skins. On reddit , sought-after sizes and colors fetch $20,000 or more. Diamond-encrusted crocodile Birkins hold the record as the most expensive Hermès bags, with auction prices in the hundreds of thousands.

Hermès Kelly Bag

The Hermès Kelly bag is the elder, dressier sibling: one top handle, a sculpted flap, and a removable shoulder strap. Two constructions exist: Sellier, which is rigid with sharp edges, and Retourne, which is softer and relaxed. The bag shot to fame with Grace Kelly in 1956, and the house eventually named it after her.

Retail prices track just under the Birkin, roughly $10,000–$11,500 based on size and leather. Right now the mini Kelly bag (Kelly 20) is the hardest Hermès bag to source, and resale prices frequently double 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

These styles still require patience at busy boutiques, but there is no annual limit. For plenty of buyers, this is where the smart money lands.

Hermès Constance Bag

A structured shoulder bag with the big "H" clasp — the closest thing Hermès has to a logo bag. The Constance moves from day to evening easily and keeps its value almost on par with the quota bags. Retail starts around $8,500 for the Constance 18.

Hermès Evelyne Bag

Hermès positions the Evelyne as its 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. 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 slouchy, double-zip bag you can carry by hand or over the shoulder. That easygoing shape makes it a travel favorite. Lately, the Mini Lindy has emerged as the trend piece of the family.

Hermès Picotin Bag

The Picotin is a small open bucket bag inspired by a horse's feed bag. It skips lining and hardware complications in favor of a simple 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. 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 You Should Know

The catalog goes deeper than most realize. 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 bag with a signature metal clasp — a subtler take on the Constance.
Herbag — canvas construction topped with a Kelly-style leather flap; the bags swap on one frame.
Geta — a small curved crossbody in Swift leather, launched in 2022 and still in demand.
Victoria — a soft, unstructured tote for travel and daily use.
Della Cavalleria — the house's saddle bag silhouette, with a clasp drawn 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 — versatile shoulder and crossbody styles that convert between carries.

The Hermès men's bag range is led by the Haut à Courroies — the Birkin's ancestor — alongside the Steve messenger bag and the Cityback line.

How Much Does a Hermès Bag Cost?

Short answer: from about $3,000 to well past $100,000. A realistic pricing ladder runs 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 icons: Constance, Kelly, Birkin — around $8,500–$13,000+ at retail
Exotic skins and rarities: crocodile, ostrich, and limited pieces — $30,000 into six figures

Retail prices climb most years, and quota bags typically resell at 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. For a Birkin or Kelly, the realistic paths are building a purchase history with a sales associate, or buying pre-owned from a reputable reseller.

On the pre-owned route, authentication is non-negotiable. 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. Machine-perfect stitching and lightweight hardware usually give a fake Hermès bag away. Unsure? A professional authentication service costs a fraction of what the bag does.

There is a separate reward in vintage Hermès bags. An older Kelly or Bolide often undercuts new non-quota styles on price and carries patina no new bag can replicate.

Which Hermès Bag Makes the Best First Buy?

One answer, three lifestyles: Evelyne for casual daily wear, Constance for dressing up, Picotin for the lowest-cost entry into Hermès leather. Pursue the Birkin or Kelly after you know the house, or go authenticated pre-owned and skip the waitlist altogether.

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