The latest addition to Hermès’ canon of leather accessories is the ‘Clou de Forge’ handbag, which first appeared as part of the house’s A/W 2026 womenswear show in March. Its name is taken from another enduring Hermès accessory: the ‘Clou de Forge’ bangle, a metal bracelet notable for its horseshoe-inspired shape.
It is a nod towards the Parisian house’s roots as a harness-maker in the early 19th century (equestrianism remains a perennial influence for Hermès’ designers and craftspeople, with everything from saddlery to horse blankets inspiring its 16 métiers).
Here, the bangle’s distinctive silhouette is abstracted to become the bag’s closure in contrasting gold and silver, providing a jewellery-like flourish to the otherwise reduced silhouette – a neat, flap-front design cut from structured box-calf leather, with a cross-body strap adjustable with horseshoe-shaped hardware.
The ‘Clou de Forge’ handbag as it appeared on the house’s A/W 2026 runway show
The result is a handbag that traverses day and evening: a reflection of Nadège Vanhée’s A/W 2026 collection, which the French designer said was designed to capture the ‘liminal realm’ of twilight, when ‘colour turns nocturnal [and] life distils to its essence’.
And earlier this month, the French designer presented a ‘Chapter Two’ of the collection in Los Angeles, also featuring the ‘Clou de Forge’ handbag. ‘It’s this idea of having an open horizon; the promises of the beyond,’ she said of the show, which mined the romantic potential of sunrise and sunset.
A version of this article appears in the July 2026 Design Directory Issue of Wallpaper*, available from 4 June in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today.