The Haut à Courroies à Dos is the least expected thing Hermès makes: the house's oldest silhouette, conceived in the 1890s to carry a saddle, rebuilt as a backpack. The PM is the smaller of the two sizes and the more wearable by a distance — it keeps the squared shoulders, the flat base and the twin straps of the original HAC, then moves the handles onto the back so the whole thing rides between the shoulder blades. Worn, it reads less like luggage and more like a piece of luggage's clever younger sibling. Etoupe is the colour that has quietly outlasted every seasonal grey Hermès has issued. It is warm rather than cold, a taupe with just enough green in it to sit against navy, camel, olive and black without arguing with any of them. On a bag designed to be worn every day rather than carried to dinner, that adaptability matters more than drama. Togo is the natural match. The raised, pebbled grain absorbs the knocks that a backpack inevitably takes, hides fingerprints and light scuffing, and softens over the years rather than creasing. Palladium hardware keeps the palette cool and understated at the buckles and the sangles, which is exactly right on a piece this utilitarian. The G blind stamp places this example in recent production, and it comes to us store fresh: unmarked base, straps unstretched, hardware still under protective film, with the full set of accompaniments. HAC à Dos production is small and irregular, and the PM in a core neutral is the configuration that leaves fastest. Price on application — please enquire for current availability and a full condition report. Fully authenticated and available to view in London by appointment.