Hermes Kelly Mini 2 19 CM Bag Handmade In Epsom Calfskin Leather Gold Hardware 10 Craie 9R Lime

Cream with lime sounds like a dessert, and in a sense it is: a cup of Craie at the top, a slice of 9R lime cutting across it, and gold hardware tying the citrus to the cream. The effect is sharper than a floral print and much easier to wear than a fully lime bag, because the cream keeps the loud colour on a leash.

It is a warm-weather bag by nature. I wore it with white denim and a grey tee, and it looked deliberate; with dark tailoring it turned into a placed accent. Epsom’s pressed grain keeps the lime crisp, which matters for a shade this electric, since a softer leather could not hold the edge.

At 19cm it holds the core four, a phone, keys, a cardholder, a lipstick, and takes up no space on a café table. The interior stays simple, so the pairing of tones outside is the whole story of the bag.

Honest caveats: lime is not a colour for people who dislike attention, and with Craie in the mix you should be sensible about denim. If you keep the pale panels clean, this is one of the freshest small bags I have seen, a genuine antidote to a wardrobe of neutrals.

Carried with white, denim or even pale grey, it is the piece that keeps a summer wardrobe from going flat, and I have yet to see it photographed badly, indoors or out, which says something about a two-tone this bold.