Look of the Week: Kate Moss takes her Hermés bag to the beach

CNN

7 hours ago

EDITOR'S NOTE: Featuring the good, the bad and the ugly, 'Look of the Week' is a regular series dedicated to unpacking the most talked about outfit of the last seven days.
Kate Moss's beach bag is not like ours — the supermodel was photographed on Wednesday in a bikini in Formentera, Spain, carrying a brown leather Hermès Kelly. Worth some tens of thousands of dollars, it was presumably full of her summer essentials.
But while most celebrities who tote around the Kelly — or its sibling, the Birkin — keep their bags pristine, Moss took a different approach. In photos, her carry-all is scuffed, well-loved and almost certainly not kept in the recommended dust bag. Nestled in the crook of her elbow, the unclasped Kelly hangs wide open, threatening to tip out her belongings. Moss used it like, well, a bag, and not just a financial investment.
Kelly bags retail between $10,000 and $20,000, and can double on the secondary market. Then, there are the splashiest auction sales: In 2024, a number of limited-edition Kelly bags soared to eye-watering six-figure prices at auction, and last month, Sotheby's sold the original Birkin prototype, designed for It-girl Jane Birkin, for a record-smashing $10 million.
'Everyone agreed and understood that this was a good investment,' the buyer, Shinsuke Sakimoto, told CNN in an interview following the sale.
'It was the most expensive purchase I've ever made for a single item,' he added. 'It was very exciting, but it really made me sick to my stomach.'
Despite the pearl-clutching Moss's beach-worn bag could provoke, Hermés bags have not always been intended to be preserved. The Kelly bag dates back to the 1930s, and was originally designed as a functional travel bag for women, adopting its current name decades later for its association with the actor and Princess of Monaco, Grace Kelly. The original Birkin, sold at Sotheby's, features scuffs and sticker residue from being Jane Birkin's spacious everyday bag. She was known for her battered and bruised Birkins, brimming with notebooks and makeup and adorned with political and non-profit stickers, beaded key charms and ribbon.
Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen similarly followed suit in the early 2000s, wearing out their navy-hued versions until they were faded, beaten up and bursting at the seams. More recently, Dua Lipa has taken to adorning her Birkin with scarves, charms and now Labubus — though the bag itself appears immaculate. The Kelly style, meanwhile, is favored by Victoria Beckham, Sofia Richie and Kendall Jenner. Earlier this year, Cardi B's custom $60,000 crocodile Kelly was personalized against her will after her daughter drew on it with a pen.
But in recent years, the luxury staples have transcended fashion. A 2016 study showed the value of the Birkin bag had grown faster than the S&P 500 and the price of gold. One of the world's biggest Birkin collectors, Jamie Chua in Singapore, reportedly keeps her pieces behind a fingerprint-locked glass case.
But Moss, who completed her vacation look with a Broderie Anglaise-style blouse, chunky belt and stacks of necklaces and bangles, doesn't seem to subscribe to the belief of seen-and-not-touched. Moss has been regularly photographed with her Hermés bags over the years, though none quite so loved. After all, everyone has a favorite carry-all.