The Gist
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Jane Birkin’s original Hermès Birkin Bag sold for $10.1 million at auction through Sotheby’s on July 10, making it the most expensive ever sold.
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Her original Birkin prototype has several unique features—like a shoulder strap, secret nail clippers, and brass hardware—making it a cut above the rest in terms of authenticity.
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Jane Birkin adorned her Hermès purse with stickers, trinkets, and keys, making her the original bag charm girl. (Sorry, Labubu!)
Most “It” bags are clocked only by a group of fashion insiders and accessory aficionados. Some, like the Hermès Birkin Bag, however, become household names. Traversing entertainment (an entire Sex and the City episode follows Samantha Jones’s desperate quest to get her own), music (its namesake was the original ’60s folk It girl), and economics (Birkins are one of fashion’s best investments, fetching up to millions of dollars), the It Bag of all It Bags is a pop culture fixture and the undesputed most famous bag in the world.
Now, the original prototype, created for Jane Birkin by Hermès in 1985, has sold at auction for an astonishing $10 million. The iconic piece led Sotheby’s Fashion Icons sale on July 10 in Paris during Couture Fashion Week, where collectors vied to own the industry’s most legendary carry-all. Who won out? Alas, we may never know. (The lucky new owner is listed simply as “a private collector.”) “It is incredible to think that a bag initially designed by Hermès as a practical accessory for Jane Birkin, has become the most desirable bag in history and will most likely continue to be so for many years to come,” explained Morgane Halimi, Sotheby’s Global Head of Handbags and Fashion in a statement.
Before today, the most expensive handbag ever sold at auction was the Hermès Kelly Bag in White Himalaya Niloticus Crocodile Diamond, which garnered $513,040 in 2021, according to Sotheby’s. When the O.G. Birkin sale was first announced on June 5, Halimi compared it to Princess Diana’s famous “Black Sheep” sweater which sold for more than $1 million: “This iconic handbag stands shoulder to shoulder with other exceptional items with similarly dazzling provenance, such as Princess Diana’s symbolic Black Sheep Sweater and Freddie Mercury’s Crown and Cloak, both of which set outstanding benchmarks for items of their kind.”
Rich in fashion lore, the original Birkin Bag’s story is as fascinating as its $10 million tag. Read on for the history, hidden details, and forgotten story behind a style icon.
Sotheby’s
The original Birkin prototype (top right) and a more recent model
Mother Necessity: The Story Behind the Design
The Birkin bag has a fitting origin story. During an Air France flight in 1981, Jane Birkin’s straw carry-on bag spilled its contents when the French actress and singer tried to stow it in her overhead compartment. It just so happens that her seatmate was Jean-Louis Dumas, the artistic director of Hermès. The designer commiserated with Birkin, agreeing that a functional, large handbag for travel—one that could accommodate the needs of Birkin’s young daughter Charlotte—was missing from the market.
Inspired by the encounter, Dumas decided to make one for her. Four years later, he presented Birkin with her very own design in 1985—the exact prototype that would eventually fetch $10 million at auction through Sotheby’s.
Sotheby’s / InStyle
Details of the original Birkin, including an attached nail clipper
Secrets of the O.G. Birkin Bag
The resulting handbag was the true marriage of necessity and design, and the original Birkin included a few unique features that never made it to the final model sold by Hermès. Unlike other Birkins, Jane’s O.G. features a fixed shoulder strap for maximum practicality (although Hermès did release a limited-edition bag with a detachable strap).
It’s also unique in its size: The prototype measures up to the width and height of a Birkin 35 but the depth of a Birkin 40, and it has smaller bottom studs than its successors. The bag features brass hardware (in-market Birkins have gold-plated details, although there have been a few iterations designed with special finishes) and a nail clipper attached to the inside zipper.
Finally, the original Birkin is lovingly stamped with the initials J.B.—fitting, no?
Getty Images
Jane Birkin with her namesake bag
Was Jane Birkin the Original Bag Charm Girl?
Though Hermès would gift four other Birkin bags to Jane throughout her lifetime, none surpassed the first in terms of originality. Not only did it have a one-of-a-kind design, but Birkin (the woman) famously added personal touches to her well-worn carry-all. She adorned it with stickers supporting Médecins du Monde and UNICEF, a nod to her humanitarian efforts, and tied on mementos and charms. She even clipped her keys on one of her Birkins, marrying form and function, just as Dumas intended.
Sorry, Labubu, but long before the bag charm explosion and the over-accessorization era, the French fashion icon was adding doodads and trinkets to her namesake purse. She’s the original bag charm girl.
Read the original article on InStyle
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