The Hermès Vinyl Kelly: how a show invitation became a collector's legend
Some of the most interesting objects in fashion history were never meant to be objects at all
In 1995, creative director Martin Margiela — known for turning fashion's assumptions inside out — designed a transparent plastic Kelly bag to serve as an invitation to the Hermès spring/summer 1996 show. It was a gesture: witty, self-aware, and utterly Hermès in its craftsmanship even in plastic form.
The idea clearly resonated. From 1997 to 1999, Hermès held a touring exhibition in Japan called Un Voyage au Pays de Merveilles ("A Journey Through Wonderland"), celebrating the French house's 160th anniversary. The Vinyl Kelly became available for purchase at the exhibitions — first the clear version, then an orange iteration in 1998.
The result is a bag that almost never surfaces outside Japan, that exists at the intersection of art object and fashion artifact, and that carries within it the entire story of Hermès at a particular moment of playfulness and self-confidence. It is fashion as game, as riddle, as souvenir from a wonderland you can't quite reach.
