Lady Gaga Wears Her Most Beat-Up Hermès Bag Yet

When in Paris, Lady Gaga is staying loyal to the school of Jane Birkin. Over the weekend, the Mayhem musician turned date night with fiancé Michael Polansky into a tribute to an oft-forgotten art: the perfectly worn-in designer bag.

Gaga, who was seen heading to the Parisian hotspot Lapérouse, dressed up in a patterned maxi dress, sheer garters, and black glasses. She cradled a ladylike Hermès Kelly with gold hardware in her hand. The Birkin’s sister bag has been a staple in Gaga’s repertoire of late—mostly worn in the crossbody Kelly 15 size—but this addition stood out not for its supple, box-fresh leather, but rather for its lived-in look.

The top-handle bag looked like it had been put through the wringer: perhaps tossed around on the floor, folded in a few too many times, and scratched on its exterior. Its sides were warped and the once-pristine leather had scuffs and discoloration. That’s to say—it was used, just as Jane Birkin would have wanted.

The bag itself is vintage, likely from the 1990s, and has been part of Gaga’s closet for nearly a decade now. (She purchased it from Resurrection Vintage back in 2013). But, in fact, the accessory—in all its pre-loved glory—speaks to a larger phenomenon happening in Hermès land.

In July, Birkin’s original, sticker-laden Birkin bag was sold at a Sotheby’s auction. The price? A whopping $10 million. It’s an obsession with lived-in luxury that has translated to the runway during the recent spring and fall seasons. Top luxury brands presented deliberately aged and unkempt handbags, from the distorted Chanel flaps by Matthieu Blazy to the worn-in leather Bowling and Galleria bags at Prada.

Gaga has been gravitating toward the Kelly quite often recently, but her latest outing proved that imperfection is fashion’s new status symbol.