Hat’s crazy! Baffled shoppers spot limited-edition fluorescent orange Hermès hardhat being auctioned online for up to £5,750 – and joke you could just buy one from a hardware store
- Orange workman hat by Hermès is being sold for £5,750 on Sotheby’s website
- Hats released in limited numbers to mark opening of Toronto Hermès in 2008
- They are collector’s items – but shoppers joke you can just go to a hardware store
A Hermès hat that looks like a construction helmet is being sold online for nearly £6,000.
The unusual, limited-edition accessory was released to mark the opening of the Hermès store in Toronto in 2008, and has popped up in auction houses in the years since.
Now there is one being sold online by Sotheby’s for £5,750, and on eBay for £5,300.
Similar styles without the designer logo can be brought from trader shops for a mere £1.69.
The bright orange workman hat by Hermès is being sold online by Sotheby’s for £5,750 and is also auctioned on eBay – for £5,300
People were quick to point out that they could find the exact same hats for much cheaper in their local trader shop
The hat is in bright orange and made of common plastic polyethylene, the luxury on brand’s iconic logo is plastered at the front.
Stickering on the back reads: ‘Toronto June 2008’ in reference to the store.
At the time of the Toronto store opening, the quirky accessories were estimated to be worth £600 to £800.
But 14 years on, they are a collectors item fetching thousands on the likes of Christie’s auction house’s website, Sotheby’s and eBay.
The unusual, limited-edition accessory was released to mark the opening of the Hermès store in Toronto in 2008, and has popped up in auction houses in the years since. Stickering on the back of the hard hat reads: ‘Toronto June 2008’ in reference to the store opening
Inside, the workman’s hat looks like just any other similar accessory you might find in a hardware store
Shoppers were quick to poke fun at the construction wear.
‘I’m off to Selco,’ one US-based shopper said, referencing the hardware store.
Another moaned: ‘I expect s*** like this from Balenciaga but Hermès?’
Another UK shopper joked: ‘Probably the hat Boris Johnson wears in his photo opportunities then claims it back in expenses.’
The hat can be found on the auction platform eBay, selling for for £5,300, and without possible returns
The auction house Sotheby’s is also selling the hat, which is going for £5,750, and is in ‘good’ condition, with only a few scratches on the top
People said that they did not expect Hermès to be selling construction hats, with some joking they had been expecting the Spanish brand Balenciaga to pull this stunt
‘I’m very disappointed.’
Usually, Hermès collects more headlines for their collections Birkin bags rather than hardware accessories.
The most exclusive handbag on the planet with some selling for up to £130,000.
The hat was reportedly produced in limited editions for the opening of the Hermès Toronto, Canada store in 2008 and have been