Brazilian felt barred when trying to buy a purse worth R$ 30,000

“I became obsessed.” It was 2012 when Michelle Marie Hirome Sacchi, then 32 years old, heard an unexpected refusal from the mouth of the seller of the very luxurious Maison Hermès, at number 24 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, in Paris: “We don’t have the Kelly bag” .

Icon of luxury, the accessory was named after Princess Grace Kelly of Monaco, who, pursued by paparazzi, hid the pregnancy of her first daughter, Caroline, using the bag for as long as she could.

Today, a “basic” Kelly costs between 6,000 euros (R$ 33,000) and 9,000 euros (R$ 50,000).

“Basic” because there are super exclusive models, such as the albino crocodile leather with diamonds, which in September was sold by Sotheby’s auction house in Paris for US$ 345 thousand (R$ 1.8 million).

The Kelly that Michelle was looking for ten years ago cost €5,600. She had the money and wanted to buy. But the brand thought that Kelly should not be in her arms, says the Brazilian. According to her, saying that the product was out of stock was the strategy for the pre-selection to sound kind.

A lawyer specializing in family and succession, Michelle was in Paris for her first course in search of a career transition into the field of fashion and style.

He heard about the glamor surrounding the Hermès house, which was born in 1837 as a manufacturer of harnesses for the horses of European nobles, and the brand’s custom of ‘choosing’ its customers. He decided to try it out and went to the store on rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré.

It was with a Brazilian friend. Each one asked for a different Hermès model: Michelle wanted the Kelly and, her friend, a Birkin. Friendly, the seller answered them in English and led them to a separate room inside the store. After waiting approximately 30 minutes, he returned with the verdict: “Maybe I’ll make it tomorrow,” he said. “But I’m only going to have one. The Birkin.”

“The friend who was with me was Brazilian, but had delicate, European features”, says Michelle. “I have Latin traits, a mixture of Japanese, Italian, Indian, black blood. It was their way of telling me that I had not been elected to join their club”, she believes.

The report asked Hermès about the criteria for selling the brand’s handbags. There was no response until the publication of this text.

In the same year, in 2012, Michelle went to New York. Once again, she picked Kelly up at an Hermès store, now at 15 Broad Street in Manhattan. The answer was the same: “We don’t have Kelly.”

“I felt like I could buy anything from the store – bracelets, belts, perfume, everything on display. But not the bag, which is in a reserved, exclusive area. That ended up becoming an obsession with me.”

Still in 2012, now with her then-husband, on a vacation trip to Saint Barth, in the Caribbean, she didn’t forget the missing piece in her closet. “He had Caucasian features, I thought he would be successful and I asked him to go buy the bag.”

Michelle’s ex-husband was answered: they had a Kelly. That’s when he called his ex-wife to enter the store. She saw the bag in a sealed box, opened by the seller wearing gloves. It was orange, the color she was after. But no taking it out of the box, trying it on, seeing yourself in front of the mirror. She just paid for the bag and took it home. “I didn’t have the courage, I didn’t want to run the risk of being without her.”

“The Kelly was stored for a long time, as a collector’s item. I used it a few times, in more elegant events. Those who don’t know the bag consider it a common item”, says Michelle. “I gradually let go until I sold it this year. I didn’t want to keep anything associated with my ex-husband”, says the lawyer, who separated two years after winning over Saint Barth. Today she is married again.

Kelly worth R$ 17 thousand was resold for R$ 80 thousand

Kelly turned out to be a good investment. “We bought it at the time for the equivalent of R$17,000. I resold it for R$50,000 to a second-hand store [brechó de luxo]🇧🇷 If I had known, I would have asked for others as a gift”, he jokes. Michelle’s bag was resold for R$ 80,000. Hermès is the biggest luxury brand in terms of resale value.

With a long list of designer bags –Chanel, Prada, Valentino, Yves Saint Laurent, Gucci, Louis Vuitton– Michelle doesn’t miss the Hermès accessory. “I wouldn’t go through that again,” says she, who felt she had been the target of prejudice. “At that time, I wanted to belong to that group, whatever the cost. But today I know that this is not fundamental”, she says. “Today I consume luxury items because I understand the concept of exclusivity, the craftsmanship, the history of the brand. Before, it was just about belonging.”

At the head of the Michelle Marie Consultoria office, today she provides services as a personal shopper and image consultancy.

Princess of Monaco was Hermès’ biggest poster girl

From the riding items of the late 19th century, Hermès began to manufacture leather goods and clothing with zippers in the 1910s – a device that was used exclusively by Hermès, to the point that zippers were called in Europe “fermeture Hermès” ( Hermès clasp). Women’s bags began to be manufactured a century ago, in 1922, and five years later the first haute couture collection was launched.

The aura of luxury, exclusivity, quality and glamor that came to accompany the Hermès brand had the help of some timeless celebrities. In addition to the Princess of Monaco, Jacqueline Kennedy was a fan of Hermès silk scarves.

English singer Jane Birkin became an inspiration for a new brand bag after meeting a Hermès director on a flight from London to Paris. Jane’s straw bag fell and her things were scattered inside the plane. She complained to the executive that there should be a Hermès bigger than a Kelly, to fit all her things.

Three years later, Birkin was born, whose prices range today from US$9,000 (R$47,000) to US$14,000 (R$73,000) for basic models.