I have spent years (and most of my savings) amassing a small collection of designer bags that spans Prada, Fendi, Stella McCartney and Louis Vuitton—but none is quite so precious to me as my Il Pellicano tote. Made from a simple cream cotton-canvas and emblazoned with the hotel's bright red branding, it's more of a status symbol than anything else I own—despite the fact it only cost me €40.
Niche? Absolutely, and that's precisely the point. Allow me to explain. Il Pellicano is a legendary five-star hotel in Italy's exclusive Porto Ercole, that has housed the likes of Sophia Loren, Jacqueline Kennedy, European royals, and all manner of fashion heavyweights over the years, and been the subject of countless famous Slim Aarons photos to boot. It's the epitome of old-world glamour, and its logo—a minimalist silhouette of a pelican—has been the same ever since it opened in 1965. Iconic, but only to a select few.
