Real Housewives of Beverly Hills OG Kyle Richards recently admitted to friend and co-star Dorit Kemsley that she currently owns 18 Hermès Birkin handbags.
Image courtesy: daily mail.com
No word on her Kelly collection, but she has been seen many times with that style before as well.
Image courtesy: IG@kylerichards18
Image courtesy: IG@kylerichards18
Bravo fans may recall that Richards lost much of her bag and jewelry collection when her Encino home was burglarized in 2017. According to Bravo, she told Vogue “They took everything — all of my bags, as well as bags and jewelry that my mum left me.” But she clearly also committed to rebuilding that collection – and in July 2022 noted “Let’s just say I’m doing very well . . . I try to get four of everything for each of my daughters.”
Image courtesy: IG@kylerichards18
Doing the math, it’s clear Richards has secured 18 Birkins in six years – well above the one or two bag annual quota limit. Of course, no one knows for certain whether her source is Hermès itself or the secondary market. However, given the number of IG pix of Richards with Hermès Paris executive Michael Costes, we suspect at least some were sourced from the Hermès Paris mothership.
Image courtesy: IG@michaelcostefr
Image courtesy: IG@michaelcostefr
Image courtesy: IG@michaelcostefr
Image courtesy: IG@michaelcostefr
As Richards points out in her Bravo chat with Kemsley, 18 is a lucky number in the Jewish faith (Kyle converted to Judaism in the course of her marriage to Mauricio Umansky). It means chai – or life – and dollar amounts of 18 or multiples of it are typically used for gifts. Which makes us wonder whether having acquired 18 bags, is Kyle now aiming for 36? Just kidding, sort of. Maybe she has 90 – her 18 plus four more of each bag for each of her daughters?
On the other hand, could her collection be about to be split in half? After all, one of the major plot lines on and off of the show is Richards’ separation from her husband. Should they ultimately divorce, the 18 Birkins (and other bags) could be the subject of property division. Handbags – even preowned and used – now are recognized as valuable assets (and an alternative luxury investment class). As a result, absent a pre- or post-nuptial agreement addressing this, a bag collection could be considered marital property to be divided.
Read: Getting Divorced? You Might Have to Fight for Your Hermès Handbags
A recent news story discusses the woman Tom Cruise is presently dating, Elsina Khayrova. According to reports, she hid €1million of handbags in the course of her divorce proceedings from a Russian tycoon in order to keep them.
Regardless of what happens between Richards and Umansky, we can all envy her substantial collections. And maybe she’ll let us know how many Kelly bags she also owns.
- Maura Carlin posted 4 months ago
- last edited 4 months ago
