Hermes Herbag Zip 31 Bag Retourne 18 Etoupe 37 Gold Handmade In Canvas and Hunter Cowhide Gold Hardware

Etoupe might be the most useful colour in the Herbag line, and I say that as someone who usually reaches for black first. It’s a greyed taupe, warm enough for brown boots and cool enough for a navy coat, and the gold hardware on this Zip 31 warms it further, the way late light does to stone.

The construction is the familiar two-material formula: canvas for the body, hunter cowhide for the top frame and flap. Up close, the cowhide grain is close and even, and it takes the gold-tone studs beautifully. The canvas is a militaire weave here, slightly denser than the plain version, which shows in how squarely the bag sits when you set it down.

Capacity-wise, 31 by 25 by 10 cm is a genuinely useful size rather than a pretty one. Mine carries a 13-inch laptop flat for meetings, or, on weekends, sunglasses, a paperback and a water bottle with room to spare. There’s an exterior zipped pocket across the back that takes tickets and a flat phone.

The trade-off to expect: hunter cowhide is stiff out of the box. The top will stand up smartly for a month or two before it relaxes, and until then, opening the bag is a deliberate two-step, flap and then zip. I’ve come to like the ceremony. It keeps me from overloading the bag, which is the other thing to watch, because fill it heavy and the thin strap lets you know.