Apple and Hermès launch AirTag accessories
Apple has launched its anticipated new AirTag trackers, alongside three new accessories crafted by French maison Hermès. Here, we explore the history and future of this decade-long collaboration

New Hermès Apple accessories have been announced in the ‘Spring Loaded' Event broadcast from Apple Park on 20 April 2021. They comprise a leather bag charm, luggage tag and key ring for the new hero product of Apple's spring launch, the much rumoured Apple AirTags. These small, circular tile-like item trackers will work with the company’s existing software, allowing you to track objects – from your luggage, to keys to your wallet – within Apple’s ‘Find My' app.
Apple aficionados can order AirTags, alongside their covetable leather accessories, from 23 April 2021 – but more on this later.
Apple and Hermès: a history of iPadding
The Hermès / Apple relationship first blossomed following some Wallpaper* matchmaking back in 2010, when Hermès created a leather iPad case, for the first generation iPad for our Wallpaper* Handmade exhibition.
The collaboration continued to bloom. In 2019, the French maison and the US tech-titan joined forces to release the Apple Watch Hermès Series 4. ‘We are a manufacturing species, we make tools and we make tools to make objects. It is part of our culture and it is part of what makes us human,’ Hermès creative director Pierre-Alexis Dumas said at the time, hailing ‘technocraft' (technology-meets-craftmanship) as the holy grail of modern design. Their buttersoft leather straps make some of the best Apple watch bands.
The first iPad case
From the archive: iPad case and Bose headphone case in ‘Rouge Hermes’-coloured Swift calfskin, both special order, by Hermes. iPad (first generation) by Apple. QuietComfort 3 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones, by Bose. As originally featured in the August 2010 Issue of Wallpaper*
In its first iteration, Hermès' iPad envelope was made of two layers of Swift calfskin, hand saddle-stitched over a layer of protective padding.
Wallpaper's resident quality maniac-at-large Nick Vinson lauded this pioneering form of technocraft back in 2010. ‘As many of us are a touch OCD here at Wallpaper* HQ, we knew we’d need to keep our new toy in a suitably smart case,’ he wrote. ‘Bring on a hand-crafted envelope by Hermès.’
From the archive: For this interpretation of the Wallpaper* asterisk, holes were marked out with a pricking iron before the two pieces of leather were hand saddle-stitched together, with an awl to pierce them, a pair of needles, more beeswax and linen thread. As originally featured in the August 2010 Issue of Wallpaper*.
A few weeks after taking a tour of the Wallpaper* Handmade exhibition in Milan in April 2010, Pierre-Alexis Dumas shipped us an orange box. Inside was this unsolicited addition (pictured above), which we featured in the August 2010 Handmade issue. With the company’s usual dedication to handmade perfection, fawn-coloured Barenia calfskin was hand cut, and its edges first rounded with a heated tool, then sanded and coated with a dye before being polished with beeswax.
AirTags: tiny tech meets high craft
The new collection builds on this shared admiration of materials, and a maintained focus on craftsmanship – but this is leather detailing in miniature. The small bag charm, luggage tag and key ring, which were first displayed at the ‘Spring Loaded' Event in classic Hermès colourways – are designed to be highly portable, lightweight, to fit comfortably and seamlessly onto your luggage or keychain.
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Apple Airtag Hermès travel tag in Barenia calfskin
Carolyn Wolfman-Estrada, Apple iPhone System’s engineering program manager described the Hermès AirTag collaboration as ‘a special handcrafted collection'. It also features an Hermès engraving on the AirTag itself.
The aim of this tiny piece of tech, which is made all the more special by its Barenia calfskin enclosures, is to enhance the usability of the FindMy app, ensuring that whatever your AirTag is attached to – in theory, any object of value to you – can be easily located. Apple has fitted the lightweight, water-resistant and dust-resistant trackable circles with speakers to make the search even easier, with a small cover that makes it simple to change the battery.
The AirTags will cost $29 apiece, with a four-pack of AirTags costing $99.
Apple AirTags
Get the jump
Also announced for Spring: new Hermès Apple Watch bands, inspired by show jumping. These water-resistant, nylon-weave bands can be used for open water swimming, and you can match this band with any stainless steel Apple Watch case (Series 6 or previous versions).
These bold bands are available to preorder now, and will begin shipping on 27 April 2021.
Apple Watch Hermes Series 6 woven jumping band, in Blue Saphire and Orange
INFORMATION
Elly Parsons is the Digital Editor of Wallpaper*, where she oversees Wallpaper.com and its social platforms. She has been with the brand since 2015 in various roles, spending time as digital writer – specialising in art, technology and contemporary culture – and as deputy digital editor. She was shortlisted for a PPA Award in 2017, has written extensively for many publications, and has contributed to three books. She is a guest lecturer in digital journalism at Goldsmiths University, London, where she also holds a masters degree in creative writing. Now, her main areas of expertise include content strategy, audience engagement, and social media.
-
What is the future for design in Africa? Designer Hicham Lahlou shares possibilities for the continent at large
The Moroccan designer celebrates 30 years of his practice. Here he speaks from his studio in Rabat about his own career and the creative possibilities for design in Morocco and the rest of Africa
-
Philadelphia’s 'Grande Dame' reopens with a dazzling French twist
The Bellevue Hotel has been restored to its former glory through a stylish renovation by design studio Ward + Gray
-
Louis Vuitton’s duo of Osaka exhibitions celebrate the house’s deep-rooted relationship with Japan
Unfolding in Osaka this summer, ‘Visionary Journeys’ is a transporting trip into the house’s history, while ‘Yayoi Kusama – Infinity’ promises an immersion into the works of the Japanese artist, who is a longstanding Louis Vuitton collaborator
-
The best over-ear headphones, tested by experts
This round up of the best over-ear headphones reveals how leading products from Apple, Bose, Focal, Sennheiser, and Sony matched up when we put them to the test
-
The Sinclair name is back, attached to a pocket-sized games console with an educational edge
Grant Sinclair’s name is freighted with early computing history. Wallpaper* tapped up the British inventor to find out more about his new GamerCard console and other innovation
-
Tuneshine is a new way of bringing back the lost art of the album cover
The compact Tuneshine screen uses LED tech to illuminate the artwork of whatever you’re currently streaming
-
Loewe reaches for the stars with the biggest screen in its history, the Stellar 97 television
German audio specialist Loewe has revealed its new flagship, a 97-inch OLED television that’s a showcase for the company’s crafted approach
-
Liquid Glass, subtle AI and cross-device continuity define Apple’s new 26-branded OS
At WWDC25, Apple announced a raft of design changes, rolling out iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26, watchOS 26, and tvOS 26 to the delight of attending developers
-
Dyson’s new Cool CF1 fan brings quiet, compact cooling into the home
An evolution of Dyson’s quest to reinvent the humble desk fan, the Cool CF1 is enhanced and updated for a new, smarter generation
-
The new Polaroid Flip unfolds to bring you pin-sharp instant photography
Polaroid announces the Flip, an instant camera that blends its evergreen film technology with better results and more control
-
Could putting pen to reMarkable’s Paper Pro tablet make you more creative and less stressed?
Design Museum director Tim Marlow extols the power of ‘scribbling’, and is backed up by new research from reMarkable on the benefits of its paper tablet