“That woman was so arrogant and rude at that moment that I have no words for it,” Irina told reporters, describing a scene she says is still being talked about around Monte Carlo.
Irina also shared details of exactly what unfolded inside the boutique:
“She had gone over her quota for that period, and that was that. The woman got so furious that she started screaming, which upset the other customers who were shopping at the time.”
According to Irina, the whole scene lasted around 15 minutes. Melina, she says, demanded to speak to the manager and asked staff whether they knew who she was and how much money she had spent at Hermes boutiques over the years. The other customers browsing at the time were, in Irina’s words, visibly shaken by the outburst. One employee, she adds, later took several days of sick leave because of the stress the incident caused.
Hermes keeps some of the tightest quotas in the luxury handbag industry specifically for the Birkin and Kelly models, and that applies to every customer, including big spenders, none of whom are exempt from waiting their turn. Irina also described what the incident did to Melina’s standing with the boutique.
“Since then, even though we have gone out of our way to accommodate her several times, she is not exactly welcome in our boutique anymore. You can have money, but you definitely cannot buy culture and style. That comes from your family, and not even a Birkin can fix it,” Irina said.