When was the first Hermès bag made?

The first Hermès bag was made in 1892. The Haut à courroies, as it was called, was Hermès’s original top-handled bag, and it was created to carry boots and a harness. 

A smaller iteration of the Haut à courroies was made for the wife of Émile-Maurice Hermès, grandson of the luxury house’s founder Thierry Hermès. In 1923, it was modified for the wife of automobile magnate Ettore Bugatti to fit into a car’s side pocket. (At the same time, the innovative brand debuted a carryall called the Bolide, the first handbag to feature a zipper.)

Robert Dumas-Hermès redesigned the Haut à courroies again in 1935, making it smaller, adding a belt and naming it the Sac à dépêches. From 1955 onward, Grace Kelly was frequently spotted carrying her Sac à dépêches, and the bag eventually became known as the Kelly.

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