A beach-appropriate bag used to mean something low-key and suitable for sand (a straw basket bag at best and a ratty tote at worst). Now, however, the stakes have been raised by certain holidaymakers, namely celebrities who’ve been packing their beach essentials - a packet of Lays, perhaps, or the latest paperback - into their Hermès.
For her recent holiday in Ibiza, Kate Moss was photographed wearing a kaftan top and a wrist stacked with silverware, a chunky belt fastened around her bikini bottoms. The look’s pièce de résistance, however, was a Hermès Kelly, scuffed with sand or perhaps SPF 50, which hung from the crook of the supermodel’s arm. It’s a flex equivalent to stuffing nappies, a lunchbox or a spare change of shoes in your Birkin. Don’t forget, this receptacle has the kind of pedigree that means an early version - in this case the original bag owned by the woman it was named after, Jane Birkin - recently fetched £7.4 million at auction.
A Hermès handbag used to be the ultimate status symbol. In the early Noughties, Victoria Beckham used to pair hers with a ‘power dress’ from Roland Mouret, completing the ensemble with giant sunglasses, court heels and an impressively-even spray tan. Nowadays, Kate isn’t the only person who’s been applying an ‘anything goes’ policy to a bag from Hermès. Just this week, Swarovski’s Giovanna Engelbert posted a holiday ‘dump’ on Instagram, with a slide dedicated to her plus one(s) of choice: a straw bag tucked inside a Hermès Birkin. This canvas-and-suede version of the brand’s flagship bag looked sun-bleached and artfully battered at the corners; clearly, this wasn’t its first time next to a crystalline body of water.
It’s the antithesis of popular unboxing videos on TikTok. These Birkins are not only handled with painstaking care but with protective gloves, presumably to avoid the kind of scratch that could knock value off their resale potential. As a rather officious sales assistant once emphasised to Sex and the City’s Samantha Jones, “It’s not a bag. It’s a Birkin.”
Jane Birkin, however, would have disagreed and never treated her bag like it was a future collector’s item or potentially worth millions. She famously covered its surface with a patchwork of stickers, while its handles were heavy with paraphernalia that stretched from the practical (her door keys) to the playful (perfume sachets and trinkets from her travels).
Her Birkin was never saved for best. You might not take yours on holiday, but a 24/7 approach is arguably the most compelling example of cost-per-wear there is. Want to join the club but can’t stomach the waiting list (or, frankly, the price tag)? Any leather handbag that’s large enough to fit your beach towel and flip-flops will do. Just make sure to use a protective spray before approaching the sea. Calfskin leather and saltwater don’t mix.
