![Kelly Bag](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Kelly_Bag.jpg)
The Kelly bag (formerly known as the Sac à dépêches in 1935) is a
leather
Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hogs, ...
handbag
A handbag, commonly known as a purse or pocketbook in North American English, is a handled medium-to-large bag used to carry personal items.
Purse, handbag or pouch
The term "purse" originally referred to a small bag for holding coins. In many ...
designed by the
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
-based, high-fashion luxury-goods manufacturer
Hermès
Hermès International S.A., or simply Hermès ( , ), is a French luxury design house established in 1837. It specializes in leather goods, lifestyle accessories, home furnishings, perfumery, jewelry, watches and ready-to-wear. Its logo, since ...
. The bag was redesigned several times before it was popularized by and then named after the American actress and Monégasque princess
Grace Kelly
Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982) was an American actress who, after starring in several significant films in the early to mid-1950s, became Princess of Monaco by marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956.
Kelly ...
. The bag is now an expensive
status symbol
A status symbol is a visible, external symbol of one's social position, an indicator of economic or social status. Many luxury goods are often considered status symbols. ''Status symbol'' is also a sociological term – as part of social and soci ...
.
Design
The Kelly bag is a
trapezium closed around the mouth with two horizontal straps.
Four studs on the bottom, itself made of three layers of leather,
enable it to stand on the ground. It is sold in eight sizes, ranging from to .
The padlock, keys and hardware are made of white or yellow gold.
The current model Kelly bag, the Kelly II, comes in two distinct styles, as did its predecessor, the Kelly I. The ''sellier'' style is a rigid construction including a stiffening layer between the outer leather and inner lining, with the side and bottom stitching clearly visible; the ''retourné'' style is a softer construction, wherein the bag is sewn and then turned inside-out, hiding the exterior side stitching. The Kelly II, released in 2000 as an update to the original Kelly, has a double ring at the top handle, designed to attach to a shoulder strap; the original Kelly, while often sold with a shoulder strap, features a single-ring design. The construction of each Kelly bag requires 18 to 25 hours of
handicraft
A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...
, with each item being created by a single artisan, resulting in high retail prices.
By the mid-1990s, a Kelly bag was priced at ,
and as of 2019, prices range from to , with exotic leathers priced higher.
History
In 1923, Émile-Maurice Hermès and
Ettore Bugatti
Ettore Arco Isidoro Bugatti (15 September 1881 – 21 August 1947) was an Italian-born French automobile designer and manufacturer. He is remembered as the founder and proprietor of the automobile manufacturing company Automobiles E. Bugatti, wh ...
designed a thoroughly simple and plain bag for Hermès's wife Julie, named after Bugatti. The Bugatti was the first bag designed by Hermès specifically as a women's handbag and is notable for being the first handbag to utilize a zipper pull. In 1935, Hermès's son-in-law Robert Dumas redesigned it as a spacious travel bag called Sac à dépêches. It was a sharp contrast to the dominant purses of the time, which were simple, small and flat, resembling envelopes.
Association with Grace Kelly
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
has been credited with bringing the handbag into the limelight. In 1954, Hitchcock allowed the costume designer
Edith Head
Edith Head (October 28, 1897 – October 24, 1981) was an American costume designer who won a record eight Academy Awards for Best Costume Design between 1949 and 1973, making her the most awarded woman in the Academy's history. Head is consi ...
to purchase
Hermès
Hermès International S.A., or simply Hermès ( , ), is a French luxury design house established in 1837. It specializes in leather goods, lifestyle accessories, home furnishings, perfumery, jewelry, watches and ready-to-wear. Its logo, since ...
accessories for the film ''
To Catch a Thief
'' To Catch a Thief'' is a 1955 American romantic thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, from a screenplay by John Michael Hayes based on the 1952 To Catch a Thief (novel), novel of the same name by David Dodge (novelist), David Dodge. The ...
'', starring
Grace Kelly
Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982) was an American actress who, after starring in several significant films in the early to mid-1950s, became Princess of Monaco by marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956.
Kelly ...
. According to Head, Kelly "fell in love" with the bag. In 1956 she became
princess of Monaco
Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince.
Princess as a subst ...
and was photographed using the handbag to shield her growing belly from the paparazzi during her first pregnancy. That photograph was featured in ''
Life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...
'' magazine.
Princess Grace was a fashion icon, and the handbag immediately achieved great popularity.
Although the handbag instantly became known as the Kelly bag, it was not officially renamed until 1977.
The handbag with which Princess Grace was photographed was loaned from the palace archives of Monaco
and displayed in the
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
in April 2010, along with other notable wardrobe items owned by the princess.
The "star exhibit" of the show contains scuffs and marks, as the wardrobe thrifty princess carried it for many years.
Hermès now creates 32 styles of handbags, but the Kelly persists as the manufacturer's best-seller.
See also
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Birkin bag
The Birkin bag (or simply Birkin) is a kind of tote bag introduced in 1984 by the French luxury goods maker Hermès. Birkin bags are handmade from leather and are named after the English-French actress and singer Jane Birkin.
The bag quickly b ...
, an Hermès product which also originated from a travel bag and was named after the actress
Jane Birkin
Jane Mallory Birkin, Order of British Empire, OBE (born 14 December 1946) is an English-French singer and actress. She attained international fame and notability for her decade-long musical and romantic partnership with Serge Gainsbourg. She als ...
*
It bag
An It bag is a high-priced designer handbag that has become a popular best-seller. The phenomenon arose in the fashion industry and was named in the 1990s and 2000s. Examples of handbag brands that have been considered "It bags" are Chanel, Hermè ...
*
Wedding dress of Grace Kelly
The wedding dress of the American actress Grace Kelly, worn during her wedding to Prince Rainier III of Monaco on 19 April 1956, is cited as one of the most elegant and best-remembered bridal gowns of all time, and one of the most famous since t ...
References
External links
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{{Bags
20th-century fashion
21st-century fashion
Bags (fashion)
Grace Kelly
Leather goods