The Hermès Evelyne Bag Surges in Popularity The Hermès Evelyne bag. MOVE over, Birkin. The Hermès Evelyne, which features a canvas strap and perforated "H" logo and costs $2,575 (and up, but still a bargain compared with the Birkin's five figures) is surging in popularity. Patricia Walker, a mother of three who lives on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, bought her first Evelyne in 2010. "It has this chic thing about it, but it's very practical," said Ms. Walker, who wears the bag to drop-offs and pickups at her daughter's nursery school while her Birkin, a gift from her mother, gathers dust in a closet. "Everyone is texting and social networking," said Ann Caruso, a stylist who received the Evelyne bag as a holiday gift. A cross-body leaves your hands free to do that. But the Evelyne predates these modern innovations. Named for Évelyne Bertrand, then the head of Hermès's riding department, the bag was designed in 1978 to carry grooming equipment (a brush, comb and other stable necessities) and was sold in stores alongside other equestrian goods, where the bag was still relegated up until recent years. "It was kind of sitting alone in the case untouched," said Michelle Smith, the designer of Milly, who was an intern for Hermès for three years in the early 1990s. It wasn't very popular. But last October, Tina Craig, a Texas-based blogger and collector of Hermès purses who owns two Evelynes, posted a glowing review of the purse on Bagsnob.com, a blog for which she writes, inciting a run on the style at the company's Dallas store, she said, and waiting lists for certain colors. In an e-mail, an Hermès spokeswoman declined to comment on sales other than to acknowledged that the company "has seen a wide resurgence of interest in classic Hermès handbag styles," and will be offering the bag, which comes in three sizes and numerous colors, in a new leather - "grizzly calfskin" - this spring. Michael Tonello, who wrote the memoir "Bringing Home the Birkin" about his years buying and reselling Hermès bags, says he thinks that the bag's "under the radar" silhouette may account in part for its appeal. "You have Jay-Z and Beyoncé rapping about it," he said of the Birkin. Or as Christene Barberich, editor in chief of Refinery29, a Web site focused on fashion and personal style, put it, "In this economic climate, you don't want to be all blinged out." Indeed, Di Petroff, a publicist who lives on the Upper East Side, said she has begun leaving her Birkins at home (she has three) and relying instead on one of her two Evelyne bags to cart around work-related materials during the week, or on weekends when she takes her son to Central Park. "It's chic, it's durable and it's easy to carry," Ms. Petroff said of the Evelyne. Plus, she said, "You're not going to offend anyone."