Hermès

Pick Up a $150,000 Hermes Saddle for Charity

I always forget something at Duane Reade. Dry shampoo, Diet Coke, toilet paper, Ziploc bags…that’s everything, right? And then I get home and realize that, duh, I forgot to throw a handmade Hermes Cavale Saddle in my basket. Conviently, Sotheby’s, Apple creative head Johnny Ive and legendary designer Marc Newson have joined forces to make one such Hermes saddle available to support a very worthy cause during the 2013 (RED) Auction. It’ll match the horse that I ride to my subway stop perfectly.

The auction, which supports the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, is chock full of incredible pieces of interior, technical and fashion design (43, to be exact), hand-selected by Ive and Newson and customized for the occasion. Fashion lovers will also be interested in a one-of-a-kind pair of bespoke Christian Louboutin boots, as well as an Alaia gown and a trio of Valextra suitcases, but the real winner for shoppers with flush bank accounts and charity on their minds is this Hermes saddle in Rouge H calf, bearing a unique identification number to prove forever that it’s edition one of one.

Hermes got its start in the equestrian field, designing and manufacturing fine riding regalia for the French horsey set long before the company set its sites on bags, and it’s an interesting choice by Ive and Newson to commission a saddle for the auction instead of a one-of-a-kind Hermes bag, which would be equally sure to create pre-auction buzz. It’s indicative of Ive and Newson’s love for design history, and with the final bid expected to be between $100,000 and $150,000, it’ll make a wonderful decor piece in the home of any Hermes fanatic.

Feel like spending a little more money? The auction’s most expensive item, a Leica camera designed by Ive and Newsom, is expected to fetch as much as three quarters of a million dollars. You can browse the entire collection via Sotheby’s.

Hermes Cavale Saddle Side

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