Every style aficionado knows the origin story of one of the most iconic (and expensive) items in fashion history: the Birkin bag, a coveted status symbol that usually sells for tens of thousands of dollars.
The handbag came about after a chance encounter between the British-French actress and singer Jane Birkin and Jean-Louis Dumas, CEO of the French luxury goods manufacturer Hermès. The two were seated next to each other on a flight in 1983, when the contents of Birkin’s bag spilled onto Dumas. During the ensuing conversation, Dumas asked the frustrated Birkin to draw her ideal handbag, which she did on an airsickness bag.
Based on this sketch, Hermès created a black leather handbag stamped with the initials “J.B.” and sent the prototype to Birkin as a gift, along with a request that they be allowed to name it after her. Birkin agreed and used the "Original Birkin" bag for years, personalizing it by adding several stickers for humanitarian causes she supported.
That very bag (still bearing the remnants of those stickers, plus a pair of nail clippers Birkin attached to the shoulder strap) will be auctioned by Sotheby’s in Paris next month as part of its “Fashion Icons” event. The bag is expected to fetch a staggering price, given its place in fashion history. Another Birkin bag owned by Jane Birkin was auctioned for $160,000 in 2021, and the prototype bag is likely to sell for far more.
This won’t be the first time the Original Birkin bag has been put up for auction. Jane Birkin first auctioned it in 1994 to raise funds for an AIDS charity. At another auction in 2000, it was purchased by collector Catherine Benier, though the price tag was never made public.
When a bag isn’t just a bag:
- Hermès made several changes between the prototype and the eventual launch of the Birkin bag, including removing the shoulder strap, replacing the brass hardware with gold-plated versions, changing zipper brands, and increasing the size of the studs on the bottom of the bag.
- While new Birkin bags typically start at around $11,500 in Hermès stores (if you're lucky enough to be invited to purchase one), they can cost many times that amount when they have unique design features, colors, or materials, or they have a specific provenance and are sold secondhand.
- Jane Birkin, who died in 2023 at age 76, wasn’t always happy to be associated with the bag that bears her name, perhaps most notably in 2015, when a video revealed cruel factory farming practices associated with Hermès crocodile-skin bags.
