I don’t think I need to tell you how difficult it is to procure a birkin or kelly bag from Hermès. And as the venerable French brand expands into China and India, stock becomes even more sparse for those of us on the western hemisphere. In the 15 years that I have been collecting Hermès, I have never seen demand and consumption like this! Walk into any Hermès boutique, from Paris to Beverly Hills– and you’ll most likely find them bare. There just aren’t enough bags (or wallets, or belts, or anything leather for that matter) to meet demand. Unlike the old days when they kept the good stuff below to pull out for special clients, they really don’t have any stock. And anything that does arrive is usually sold or spoken for before it leaves the New Jersey fulfillment center.
My SA at the Hermès Paris boutique told me that he gets no less than 200 inquiries PER DAY about birkins alone (one SA at the Beverly Hills boutique said it was more like 300 per day for him). I myself get at least a dozen requests each week from friends asking for help with birkin purchases (I mean, I don’t work there?! lol). I’ve always said that Hermès bags are more addictive than any drug on the planet. Mention a birkin and see Hermes addicts’ eyes go wild and crazy– women will cheat, lie, steal and sell their puppies for a birkin (yes I have seen this firsthand). Can you blame them? How else can they get their hands on a birkin?! One option is to purchase in the secondary market from reliable sources like Heritage Auctions– you will have to pay 30-100% more for some of the bags (depending on color) but it’s better than not having an Hermès bag at all, isn’t it? Tomorrow, Heritage will be selling an exciting list of hard to get Hermès bags on Moda Operandi tomorrow, March 27th. We managed to get the list of the Hermès vintage trunk show ahead of time so we could alert our Hermès addicts. I’d wake up at 6am if I were you to buy them, especially for that insane Menthe kelly bag.
Look01: $89,000, 40cm Matte Amethyst Porosus Crocodile Travel Birkin
Look02: $18,500, 35cm Menthe Clemence Leather Kelly
Look04: $16,500, 35cm White Clemence Leather Birkin
Look08: $18,000, 40cm Gold Fjord Leather Birkin
Look 15: $12,900, Limited Edition Blue Potamus Canvas Black Calf Box Leather Birkin
Look19: $9,400, 32cm orange H Clemence Leather Kelly
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