For $11,000 (and up), you too can have an Hermes bag custom made and named after you! Cameron Silver, owner of Decades, did just that recently and created what he calls the perfect portable office and ideal carry on bag in grained calfskin aptly named… The Cameron! It took 3 trips to Paris and four months of waiting but he finally has the Hermes bag of his dreams. The genius design allows the bag to be popped up as a tote bag or folded down as a messenger bag with removeable shoulder strap. Inside the iconic orange lining of goat skin there are: a laptop pocket, a removable zippered pochette, and slots for business cards and keys. There are also side pockets that will fit an umbrella or small water bottle.
The new Hermes boutique in the financial district on 15 Broad St. across from the Stock Exchange also has the first sur mesure salon in the US. As Cameron Silver said, “The intimate room for bespoke tailoring envelops you with imported dark cherrywood. In the morning coffee and croissants are served elegantly on signature black-and-white Balcons du Guadalquivir china; in the afternoon it’s Champagne or tea. I decided that I simply cannot wear an off-the-rack shirt with a bespoke Hermes bag.” And we couldn’t agree more!
Call the Paris boutique to schedule an appointment if you would like to design your own Hermes bag! 24 Rue Faubourg St.-Honoré, Paris, 33-1/40-17-47-17
Photo source: Departures
Amazing bag for guys finally… but 11K is a lot of money for most of us… Tina and Kelly could you recommend some bags for guys that is around 1K. I need your help =)
Amy Winehouse
Opps sorry, wrong page to comment. I intend to answer the Beauty Snob quiz
Fabulous!
This is amazing! I love this kind of stories, it gives me something to fantasize about…. who wants to read about boring ugly old bags anyone on the street can buy for a hundred bucks?
The Bag Snobs provide the ultimate fantasy in bags
that is a brilliant bag….talk about sticker shck lol ! I would also be interested in seeing bags around 1K …..
I love the folded-up look as a messenger bag – it’s very unique. But the tote look kind of resembles a magazine holding device. Very practical bag, however.
he’s such a charming man! i adore his boutiques. so happy he has his dream bag.
so charming and so polite! i have shopped at his boutiques and have met him during trunk shows, he is a delight as are his fabulous finds.
as a messenger, it’s HUGE. and as a tote, i’d have to agree with overpriced designer man bag, it resembles a magazine holding device. love the orange goat skin lining and the handles, although they seem like they would be uncomfortable. $11,000 is ridiculous for this bag. personally i’d much rather save $9,300 and get a dior messenger and ferragamo work tote…o wait, i already did.
I’m not wild about the design, but he is a serious Hermes collector – here’s a video of him showing some of his collection. I didn’t watch the whole thing again, but I do believe he mentions that he wanted to have a bag custom made.
http://tinyurl.com/2xgbvt
probably it’s the extraordinary amount of time spent in creating that one unique bag that accounts for the hefty price tag. there’s most likely an entire team dedicated to create the unique bag and impeccably servicing that special client — seems like it’s the experience, not just the product
I agree with Sam. it is the 3 trips to Paris, the 4 months of constructing and designing your own Hermes bag with a team of Hermes craftsmen.
sounds like a dream… Love Cameron!
Yawn
11K is crazy for a man-bag – bespoke or not.
For those that were looking for nice messengers in the 1K price range; I’d suggest Prada, Louis Vuitton (although some of them are more than 1K) and Burberry – I bought a LV Damier Geant Canvas Messager (Earth coloured) recently and am very happy with it.
Back to the 11K bag; Any good leather-smith in one’s local town could and would construct a custom bag for a client for far less money. One just gives them the design, specifies the materials, and away the leather-smith goes to construct it – he’ll probably be done with it in less than a month. Plus, one would save one’s self money but not having to fly to Paris just to have it made.
As a matter of fact, I bet any good leather-smith could copy the Cameron – and match or exceed it’s quality – for under 1K.
I decided to test my above proposal – about having a local leathersmith construct this bag for under 1K. Therefore, I just emailed one, with over 45 years of experience, to request a price quote.
I included what specifications I could glean from the article, and the photos, to give him a general idea of the look, materials, features and dimensions.
I probably wont hear back from him until about Monday or Tuesday. However, when I do I’ll let you all know what I find out.
Um, where can I find this “leather-smith” you speak of?
I had a hard enough time finding a decent shoe-repair guy. (I live in Edmonton AB, a metro area of 1.2 mil people – not a tiny burg exactly. And the weather is *hell* on your shoes.)
Well, I just heard back from one leather-smith – in Japan – that will do the Cameron for about $500 (US). I’m still waiting to hear from the local guy though.
Meg, you may want to check your local telephone listing for a leather-smith. If can’t find anyone, I can put you in touch with someone in Japan that does excellent quality bespoke work. Please contact me at afrogrow22[at]yahoo[dot]co[dot]nz if you need to.
Kind regards
It’s a Unique Bag…BUT for the Price..I’d RATHER get a Birkin40cm or HAC40cm.
I am trying to subscribe to the site. I hope this is correct.
Barbara
great bag Cameron! now you know what it feels like to make bags! keep it up! http://www.corto.com
It is an Hermes bespoke bag. This site is called bagsnob, after all. Hermes is not for most of us, and their bespoke for fewer still. Though eleven grand is a fortune, it’s not top price for people with that kind of money. (Check out the price of a couture gown.) That bag could easily have been double the price or more if he had asked for some exotic skin.
I’m sure the cost of the bag pales in comparison to the first class tickets back and forth to Paris. (You know he’s not going to fly coach.)
As some others stated, there are excellent leather workers all over. For $1k, it is very unlikely you can find any hand work. Ferragamo has men’s bags in that range. Bottega Veneta is more like $2k. I would *never* waste the money on Vuitton. Unless you can afford their custom line (which is at least as expensive as Hermes’), much of what you’re paying for is their advertising budget. Cole Haan has some decent looking bags, though with much cheaper materials. They’re pretty reasonable, and they have some intelligent pocket features.
I am planning to have my man-purse made at April in Paris. Beatrice Amblard (once featured on Real Housewives of NYC) is a former Hermes leather artist who now has her own shop in San Francisco. She makes similar quality for significantly less, in part because of lower overhead, as well as there not being the USD/Euro exchange rate issue. She has her own line or she can create a unique piece to your specs. She will not do a knockoff. I’m expecting my bag to cost somewhere between $2 and $3k, depending on the details.
http://www.aprilinparis.us.