The Colors of Hermès Spring/Summer 2023, Part 1: Leather

Happy February! Although seasonally, we are technically mid-winter here, fashion-wise, we are already into the swing of the Spring/Summer 2023 season, and with that comes my update of the leather colors that are currently or will be available for bags over the next few months.

As always, my seasonal charts are based on colors that Hermès is actively promoting and bags that have been offered since the start of the season; I obtain this information from friends, acquaintances, social media, and my personal interactions with the brand. After organizing this information into an article on available leather colors, I examine the silk and cashmere offerings for the season, which I will present in part 2.

A few things to note:

• Remember that these charts, though intended to be as comprehensive as possible, are always assumed to be incomplete; I always appreciate updated information added to the comments below!
• Of course, there will probably be additional colors offered that are being held over from last season. To see last season’s charts, go to my Autumn/Winter 2022 PurseBlog article here.
• I haven’t seen a large variety of exotic bags being offered so far, and the exotic bags I have seen have been offered in mostly basic, neutral colors, which I have included in the chart.
• What I have seen is an increased number of bags being offered in Boxcalf (Box) leather, which for the last few years has rarely been available, by push offer only.
• There is a color called New White which is being offered, although I cannot locate a swatch or photo for you, so I have included Blanc below as a stand-in.
• Rose Pop, which has been rumored to be a new leather color for a while now, is finally being utilized for bags, so I have included it.
• Some colors have been indicated to be new, but they are actually not new; however, they had not been widely produced previously.
• As always, except for the exotic leathers, the name of the type of leather in the swatches below ONLY refers to the leather in the swatch, NOT the general availability of that color in that leather this season. As I discuss in this article, colors can vary widely in appearance depending on the leather; therefore, for ease of reference, I attempt to utilize the swatch most representative of that color in general. Additionally, since every color is usually offered in more than one leather every season (and sometimes it is difficult to locate a color swatch in a particular leather), various swatches of the same color can get unwieldy.

Here we go!

The Colors for Spring/Summer 2023

While there is a nice variety of colors this season, there definitely appears to be a drive towards more primary colors; there appear to be fewer pinks and, sadly, almost no purples this season (although I did not include it, I am hopeful that we will continue to see Cassis being offered this season). There are more bold colors, especially shades of orange, which has been surprisingly hard to find for the last few seasons. Neutral lovers rejoice! There is a great selection of beiges and grays this season with a range of undertones.

The New Colors of Spring/Summer 2023

As listed above, the new colors for the season are:

• New White;
• Rose Pop;
• Orange Minium;
• Vert Comics; and
• Gris Neve.

Please note that I have not yet seen a good swatch of the New White, so I am including “Old” White here as a placeholder. It is possible that the colors look the same in person, as Hermès has had an issue with Blanc; it had been known to discolor over time and was notoriously difficult to fix, so (hopefully) this “New White” is a reformulation of the color without those issues.

Rose Pop has been in the works for the last two seasons, and while we have previously seen jewelry produced in this color, this season, I have finally seen a bag in Rose Pop, so it’s finally on the chart. The color is bright, like Rose Tyrien but with slightly more purple undertones. Orange Minium is similar to Hermès Orange, but a bit darker; Vert Comics sits between Menthe and Bambou; Gris Neve (which, like Rose Pop, had been rumored but not produced) is a grayer Vert Fizz.

Limoncello and Gris Pale are also available but are not new; however, they were not very widely produced previously. Limoncello is slightly more yellow than Lime; Gris Pale is less green than Gris Perle.

Finally, while Yuka, a grass green, is rumored to be a new color this season, I have not seen any swatches of it at all; consider it the Rose Pop of this season, and maybe we will see it in the fall!

A closer look at the colors being offered this season:

The Purples, Pinks and Reds

The Oranges and Yellows

The Greens

The Blues

The Exotics

These are the exotic colors I have seen being offered recently. As noted above, I have not seen a wide variety; there will likely be many holdovers from Autumn-Winter 2022, discussed here.

Coming next: pairing Spring/Summer 2023 leathers with the seasonal silks and cashmeres.