'Gossip Girl' Star Kelly Rutherford Remembers Buying Her First Hermès Bag Before They Were Trendy: 'It Was Classic'

Is anyone more sophisticated than Kelly Rutherford?

The Gossip Girl alum, 55, was a major fashion icon while portraying Lily van der Woodsen in the hit CW show, but in real life, she's continued to set trends and be ahead of the style curve.

Before the item became the highly coveted closet staple it is today, Rutherford bought her first Hermès bag in the 1990s. "I had seen Catherine Deneuve and all these cool, chic women in Paris wearing them, and on the Upper East Side," she recalled in a recent interview. "None of my friends had those bags at the time. It wasn’t trendy."

"I remember saving up for my first Hermès bag, which was a Kelly bag size 28, a black box with gold, which they barely make anymore," the Melrose Place actor noted. "It was a nice thing for me to say, ‘Oh, my gosh, I’ve been working so hard.’ I loved it; it was classic."

Years later, Rutherford has become famous for her chic social media accounts where she features her high-fashion streetwear looks — but it took a while for her to get to that point. "My style was super simple. I loved jeans and T-shirts," she said of her style when she was younger. "I used to wear JP Tod’s shoes, the little car shoe. It was just very classic. I remember saving up for my first Hermès bag when I was 28. At that time, [Hermès] wasn’t a thing like it is now. Not every influencer had one."

As for if she ever saw herself sitting front row at fashion week like she does now, the blonde beauty said, "I don’t think I had any idea of the things that were to come."

"The interesting thing about fashion week, I did go when I was 28, but sort of by default. I was in Paris visiting, and someone had invited me to walk in a show, Jean-Louis Scherrer at the Louvre. That was my one fashion week moment, and I didn’t go to a lot of fashion weeks until Gossip Girl," Rutherford added.

"Recently my daughter was like, 'Go have some fun, go out there.' Because they’re teenagers now, so they don’t want me hanging out. So basically that’s why I’m at fashion week, because my 14-year-old daughter was like, 'OK, Mom.' It’s just been this last year, but it’s so much fun. I’m having such a good time," the Tell Me No Lies star spilled.

"The more we can become our own person, separate from our parents, separate from society’s ideas of us, the better. Just trust yourself," she added.

Bustle conducted the interview with Rutherford.