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

Lime, with nothing to dilute it. 9R is an unapologetic citrus green, the colour of a cold glass on a hot day, and on Epsom the tone stays pure and bright, because the pressed surface reflects so evenly. I expected to find it too much; instead I found it freeing, since a bag this loud tells you what to wear with it, and the answer is almost always white or denim.

Gold hardware adds the one warm note the colour needs, and silver would have made the lime clinical. The 19cm frame swallows the essentials, phone, cards, keys, lipstick, and thanks to Epsom the bag looks as crisp at the end of the day as at the start, with no creasing on the bright surface and no softening at the corners.

Where it struggles, honestly, is winter: against heavy dark coats the lime reads loud rather than bright, and I tend to put it away once the weather turns. For six months a year it is the most fun item I own, and for the other six it rests in its dust bag, which feels like a fair arrangement.

If your wardrobe runs on neutrals and you are choosing one colour to break it, this is the one I would pick.

Styled simply, with white, denim or a grey knit, it does more for a photo than any accessory I own, and it has never needed a second try in front of a camera.