Hermès Birkin 25 Bag Handmade Togo Calfskin Leather Gold Hardware 18 Etoupe

Etoupe is the neutral I hand to people who tell me they only wear black and grey. It is a grey-taupe with a whisper of brown in it, and the gold hardware finally explains why the colour is so hard to substitute: the two sit in the same warm-neutral family. Up close there is a faint green note in the grey, which is why it reads differently against warm and cool fabrics.

There is no clever trick to this bag. The construction is what you would expect from the workshop: French Togo, gold-tone plates, two rolled handles, a flap that closes flat. Twenty-five centimetres across by twenty high by thirteen deep.

On a working day it carries my phone, a thin card case, keys, a lip balm and a folded tote for groceries. On a weekend it takes a sunglasses case instead of the tote. The soft grain means it moulds around whatever is inside rather than standing rigid.

The limitation I would flag is that Etoupe sits between two colour families, so it can look grey next to camel and brown next to grey. I have stopped trying to match it to a wardrobe and just let it do its own thing. I have also stopped worrying about the corners; after a full year of use they still hold their roundness where other soft leathers flatten.

Togo’s pebbled surface has held up well against keys and doorways. Mine is a year old and the corners are still intact, with a light patina building along the handle tops.