If Tony Hawk designed a luxury handbag, it might look a little like Hermès‘ Bolide Skate 65, an exquisite leather bag fitted with a skateboard as its base. Well, it’s not actually a skateboard and you definitely don’t wanna thrash it.
We first beheld Hermès’ beautiful new bag on the Spring/Summer 2022 runway, where its hidden feature was only revealed by the models as they turned and walked past the photographers.
The base of this Hermès bag is the classic Bolide, an essential carry-on for well-heeled travelers. Typical Bolide sizes range from the mini 27 to the XL 45, the latter of which ends up being about the size of a weekender.
As the number in its name suggests, Hermès’ Bolide Skate 65 is a very large case, more than capable of fitting everything one would ever want for a brief trip. Hell, careful packers could likely fit a week’s worth of essentials inside.
But the Bolide Skate 65’s main feature is clearly the skateboard-inspired base, which is a bit smaller than an actual skateboard and made not of wood but of supple leather layered over a sturdy aluminum plate and stitched directly to the upper.
Also unlike an actual skateboard, the Hermès Bolide Skate 65’s curved base sports a paintjob that matches Hermès’ SS22 street art-inspired silk scarves. Beneath, four Hermès-branded lugs recall skateboard wheels.
Inside the lush, grained leather compartment, four rigid canvas pockets and dustbags for storing the matching clochette, which hides the keys necessary to unlock the accompanying lock that’s used for securing the Riri pull to the metal loop stitched to one side of the zipper.
Currently available at select Hermès stores for $22,900 apiece — ask your local sales associate! — the Bolide Skate 65 feels as meaty as it looks.
This is not a bag designed to be a daily driver: it’s intended to tote substantial cargo (if you can even bear to load up your sumptuous $23k bag, of course).
As such, the aluminum plate in its base ensures incredible sturdiness but also imposing weight.
The Bolide Skate 65 still feels beautifully balanced in-hand, though, and its mass only adds to the sense of opulence — luxe materials ought to feel substantial, no? Plus, the bag’s straps are large enough for it to be comfortably carried over one’s shoulder.
Even then, only when it’s slung across one’s back can one even just barely glimpse the skateboard-inspired base that gives the Bolide Skate 65 its name.
And that’s the point. This is no cheap grab at aping “streetwear” style but an example of Hermès filtering pop culture touchstones through its often-imitated-but-never-replicated mastery of low-key luxury.
“Understated” is the operative term here. The relative subtlety of the skateboard-inspired base — you hate to see it go but love to watch it leave — enhances the humility of the design.
Yeah, it’s an ultra-plush handbag but Hermès’ Bolide Skate 65 doesn’t make a big deal about that because, like all things Hermès, it ain’t about conspicuous consumption but IYKYK flexes, with enough delicate craft to tide over a hunger for quiet quality.
