A Hermès Investigator on Blue Boxes, Billionaires, and the Counterfeiter Operating Openly on Instagram
How allocation actually works — and why authenticity is becoming strategic.
Good morning, everyone. I know this letter is a day late, but I had a long day. (Which I will tell you all about Monday). Forgive me.
Before we begin, I want to acknowledge what is happening right now in the world. The U.S. strikes against Iran are unfolding in real time, and it would feel strange to glide past that as if nothing is happening. I try, when appropriate, to address serious subjects here (the economy, the Epstein files, the broader machinery of power) and this certainly qualifies.
That said, this letter has always been intended as a moment of educated, informed levity. Not ignorance or indifference, but a deliberate pause from the noise. There is value in understanding the world, and there is also value in stepping away from it for a few minutes to look at power through a different lens. Today’s letter lives in that second category. The world continues outside this page. For the next few minutes, we’ll turn to something lighter.
Behind the Orange Curtain
Noémie Leclercq is a Paris-based investigative journalist who works at Glitz, the independent bilingual publication. She is an expert on all things Hermès, and also covers the luxury second-hand market and how it quietly reshapes the primary one; the lobbying reach of heritage houses far beyond their boutiques; and the darker ecosystem that shadows the industry, which includes counterfeiting networks, organized theft, home-jackings and the criminal economies that luxury sustains whether it admits it or not. We met when I stumbled on her work which caused her to stumble on RPS (or maybe it was the other way around?), and to say I was blown away would be an understatement.
She also publishes a Substack called Follow the Money. She writes mostly in French, translating select pieces into English, though after this, that may need to change.
I knew I had to do an interview with her, and she did not disappoint. You all know what an orange box is when it comes to Hermès, but what about the elusive blue box? And what does it actually signal? She also explains how billionaires bypass the relationship ritual without performing loyalty in-store. And Noémie even names the high-end replica maker still operating openly on Instagram, producing superfakes so good they can cost up to €6,000, and sometimes sourcing Hermès skins from within the same supply chain as the company.
And because the bag is never the end of the story, we also get into the secondary and grey markets, flipping punishments from Hermès, resale markups, vault storage, geographic paranoia, and the moment authenticity becomes less moral question and more strategic one. When I tell you this interview is everything Hermès and luxury bag lovers want and more, I am not kidding. And maybe, just maybe, if we’re good, Noémie will answer all of our burning questions in the comments section. If there’s something you want her to follow up on, drop it below — and we’ll see what we can make happen.
