Last week, we took a look around Hermès‘ website to find the weirdest stuff you could spend several hundred to several thousand dollars on; the selection was bountiful. Yesterday when we checked in with the brand’s site, I noticed something that definitely hadn’t been there last week: an option to buy one of two mystery boxes with unnamed pieces inside, the most expensive of which costs $1,875.
Before we move on to the reaction many of you are surely having right now, let’s cover the particulars. The GM box and its MM counterpart (priced at $245–a smaller PM version has already sold out) are July’s edition of Petit H Surprise, which is part of Petite H, a larger program in which Hermès uses leftover materials from the manufacture of its main products to produce tchotchkes and objets d’art both big and small (although usually small). Petit H products are usually made in very small runs and only available at select Hermès locations and pop-up events.
The most sought-after Petite H items can be extremely difficult to find, based on the chatter in our Forum, so for devotees or collectors of the brand, snagging one of these unknown boxes may be their best shot without paying well over retail. The program just started in May, and based on what our members have received in previous Petit H Surprise boxes, the contents are things like leather luggage tags, animal-shaped leather bag charms, simple silk totes and scarves in shapes that aren’t otherwise made by Hermès. Based on recent PurseForum posts, it seems like the MM version of this month’s MM boxes contain a leather pen case. Members are still waiting for their GM shipments.
July’s MM box indicates that it’s appropriate for both male and female shoppers, while the much more expensive GM version advises that it’s better suited for women. And yes, if you get something you don’t like, the purchase can be sent back to Hermès for a full refund.
So: give Hermès some money and Hermès will send you whatever it feels like sending you. Sure! Ok. That’s certainly a thing you can do.
If nothing else, Petit H Surprise is a testament to both Hermès unique place within the luxury market and luxury customers’ near-slavish devotion to their favorite purveyor of leather goods. It’s hard to imagine many brands getting away with (and “getting away with” is definitely the correct phrase here) this sort of program, but our Hermès-obsessed Forum members seem to like it just fine, even if several of them returned their June boxes.
