Hermès renamed its Sac à dépêches handbag the Kelly bag in 1956.
Hermès originally created the structured bag as the Sac à dépêches in the 1930s. It was designed as a formal document case, with a trapezoidal shape, a top handle and the secure turn-lock now associated with the style. The bag’s construction and saddle-making heritage reflect Hermès’s origins as a specialist leather-goods house.
The name changed after Grace Kelly, then Princess of Monaco, was photographed using the bag to conceal her pregnancy from photographers in 1956. Hermès officially adopted the Kelly name that year. The design therefore predates the princess’s association with it; she did not create the handbag.
The Kelly is often compared with the Birkin, another Hermès signature bag, but the two have different histories and silhouettes. The Kelly is generally a more structured single-handle design, while the Birkin was created in connection with Jane Birkin and is typically more open and double-handled.