Hermes In the Loop 18 Bag Handmade In Taurillon Clemence Leather Gold Hardware 8V Orange Poppy

Every winter wardrobe needs one thing that refuses to hibernate. Mine is poppy orange: a red-leaning orange with the saturation of a fresh flower rather than a traffic cone, and the In the Loop 18 wears it with the confidence of a bag that has never been in a meeting it did not enjoy.

The shell is eighteen centimetres across and nineteen and a half to the top of the loop, twelve at the widest point. Taurillon Clemence is a spongy, pebbled leather that folds rather than creases, so the colour breaks gently across the surface instead of going shiny at the seams. Gold hardware, meanwhile, is the correct partner for this much warmth. The orange has enough depth to read differently at noon and at dusk, which keeps it interesting on the days I am not.

This is a market-and-museum bag for me: a phone, keys, a small wallet, sunglasses in a sleeve, and whatever paper bag I am carrying home. It sits close under the arm when I shorten the strap, and hand-carried by the loop it reads almost like a basket. Friends who claim they could never wear orange tend to change their minds after five minutes of holding it.

An honest caution: poppy orange and a red coat will argue loudly, and the shade can flatten under yellow indoor lighting. With grey, navy, cream or denim it is immaculate, and the number of strangers who have stopped me to ask about it is now in double figures.