A collector’s guide to limited-edition Hermès Kellys

The Hermès Kelly is one of the most sought-after handbags in the world, and for good reason. Each bag, made by a single artisan, takes about 25 hours and at least 2,600 hand stitches. Hermès’s in-house craftsmanship is unparalleled, and since the house only produces a limited number of Kellys each year, the bag’s rarity makes it all the more exclusive. 

Released just once every few years or in a very small quantity made for VIPs, special editions of the Kelly are even harder to come by and more coveted. More hours, stitches, and intricate displays of artistry are devoted to each model. 

Here, we delve into the most exquisite limited-edition Kellys on the market. They represent the height of the brand’s whimsy, sense of humour, and artisanal skill — from feather embellishment to marquetry. 

Ideal for someone interested in exotics but reluctant to surrender the durability of Hermès leathers, the texturally rich Touch Kelly offers a pop of exotic skin in sumptuous, saturated colour. The body of the bag is crafted from an Hermès leather with exceptional colour display properties, like soft pebbled Togo or semi-matte Swift. The flap and handles are rendered in a coordinating vivid hue in lizard, alligator or crocodile, as are the sangles — the leather strap used to fasten the flap — and clochette — the bell-shaped accessory that contains the padlock key.

Here, Hermès uses its Quadrille canvas to add a unique texture and pattern to the familiar Kelly silhouette. The print’s geometry is highlighted by the handbag’s bold lines of burgundy leather: this is the perfect handbag for when you mean business, and it pairs nicely with daytime and professional looks. Coming in a range of bright colours, the sturdy canvas material adds a sense of functional practicality.

The Casaque collection, first produced in 2021, is perfect for sporting enthusiasts. A nod to Hermès’s equestrian roots, the word ‘casaque’ means ‘jersey’, and the Casaque Kelly features colour-blocking reminiscent of a jockey’s jersey. Whilst the Casaque Birkin is split into quadrants, the Kelly is split into halves. These racing colour quadrants and halves can be recognized throughout the house, as the casaque theme spans items from scarves to watch straps. 

The Casaque Kelly’s lining comes in a contrasting shade, adding a pop of colour.

Inspired by the padded interiors of vintage cars, the leather of the Padded Kelly is raised with filling underneath to create a voluminous effect. Saddle stitching enhances each edge and divides the front and back of the bag down the middle, creating two distinct raised panels on each side. This central saddle stitch is its primary unique feature, unseen on any other Kelly. The bag incorporates Swift leather, a soft and supple leather with a subtle grain.

One of Hermès’s newest limited-edition styles, the Colormatic embodies the house’s 2022 theme, which is ‘Lighthearted’. An eye-catching design ideal for the summer season, the handbag combines five different colours and includes an external pocket feature to add an extra element of surprise. 

The zipper tape and leather pieces connecting the handle and flap serve as additional colourful accents, showing off Hermès’s attention to detail. Fun and playful, yet still sophisticated, the Colormatic is available in a number of different colour combinations.

Henri d’Origny joined Hermès in 1958, and designed many of the scarves, watches and jewellery loved by collectors today. Several of d’Origny’s designs were reinterpretations of traditional Hermès motifs. 

When he inserted a rectangular watch face into the link of Chaîne d’Ancre, for example, the Cape Cod watch was born. He also created the Cavalcadour pattern for a silk carré scarf in 1981. The colourful celebration of harnesses on the bag recalls the equestrian pieces that founder Thierry Hermès first offered in 1837. In 2017, Hermès released this motif on a limited-edition Kelly available only to VIPs.

Hermès is known for incorporating exotic materials like crocodile, alligator, lizard and ostrich, but feathered items are one of their most rarely released. 

Designed by Jean Paul Gaultier and produced in 2010, the So Black Collection is one of the most sought-after handbag collections in the secondary market, and the rarest So Black bags are the feathered versions. Constructed in collaboration with Maison Lemarié, the haute couture feather métier  founded in 1880, the Hermès So Black Feather Kelly demonstrates the exquisite craftsmanship of two historic French luxury ateliers and is one of the only Kellys that requires more than one artisan to complete. Together, Hermès and Maison Lemarié selected the finest natural feathers, attaching them one by one to the bag to create a front panel. 

The black hardware effect is created by a special PVD (physical vapour deposition) coating, a thin-film coating process which produces coatings of pure metals to enhance durability. Hermès only employed the PVD process for this collection, making this edition especially unique. When it appeared at Christie’s auction in 2022 it more than doubled its high estimate of €100,000, selling for €277,200.

Hermès’s Cavalière Kellywood puts the house’s exceptional craftsmanship on full display. Produced in extremely limited quantities, this exquisite piece leverages marquetry techniques to inlay precisely cut strips of leather and wood to form a unique geometric design—the Perspective Cavalière Scarf print, created in 2014 for Hermès by Paris-based design consultancy Anamorphèe.

Perspective Cavalière refers to a 16th century French military concept of representing a three-dimensional object in two dimensions, visualised as if from the perspective of a rider on his horse, an apt inspiration for a brand with deep roots in both the French style lexicon as well as the equestrian world. The words ‘Hermès Paris’ are rendered according to Perspective Cavalière specifications, with no vanishing point and all parallel lines, in a mix of new and long-treasured brand colors such as Bleu Brume, Rose Sakura, and Menthe.

All of these techniques and inspirations come together in the form of the iconic Kelly bag rendered in seven sumptuous leathers, a gorgeous range of eleven summer colors, all in a light wooden frame. This summer marks its first appearance in the American auction market, so it’s sure to make a splash.

Hermès’s original Kelly Doll, dreamt up in 2000 by then-CEO Jean-Louis Dumas, is one of their creations that best expresses the house’s inclination towards humour and whimsy. Even the name is a play on the French expression ‘quelle idole’— ‘what a doll!’ In the decades since its release, the Kelly Doll has become a coveted phenomenon amongst collectors. 

Sure to be a new sensation is its updated version: the Kellydole Picto. Reimagined for our digital age with a charming pixelated look, the Kellydole Picto has a detachable pouch perfect for your phone and a shoulder strap for added functionality.

The Picnic Kelly is one of the few Hermès bags that requires two esteemed artisans: a master saddler for the leather and an expert basket weaver for the body. It takes about ten hours to weave the osier wicker strands into shape, and Barénia leather is then attached to the wicker using a complex system of lacing and knots. 

The Hermès Picnic Bag initially premiered on the runway in 2011, but the Mini Kelly wasn’t released until 2019, and it has been a collecting sensation ever since. Perfect for summer days al fresco, this edition is the ultimate accessory for lovers of leisure and luxury.