Sotheby’s Sells Jane Birkin’s Original Birkin for $10.1 Million: How One Bag Shaped Fashion and Culture
Born from a chance meeting in 1984, Jane Birkin’s handbag became a global symbol of luxury, craftsmanship, and cultural cachet
Jane Birkin’s original Hermès Birkin bag has sold for $10.1 million (€8.6 million) at Sotheby’s Paris, setting multiple auction records.
The prototype, created in 1984, became the most valuable handbag ever sold at auction. It also broke records for the highest price achieved for any fashion item sold in Europe and for any luxury item sold at Sotheby’s Paris.
The Original Birkin is now also the second most valuable fashion item ever sold, after the ruby slippers worn in The Wizard of Oz, sold for $32.5 million in 2024.
The bag was sold after a ten-minute bidding battle between nine collectors, with bids coming in from phones, online platforms, and the auction room. The winning bid came from a private collector in Japan.
The sale attracted global attention with over 270 bidders from 38 countries registered for the event, following the bag’s exhibitions in Hong Kong, New York, and Paris. Thousands came to view the prototype while it was exhibited to the public, reflecting the rarity of the piece, the enduring appeal of Jane Birkin herself and the place the Birkin bag holds in fashion and culture.
Morgane Halimi, Sotheby’s Global Head of Handbags and Fashion, called the sale “an important milestone in the history of fashion and the luxury industry.” She noted that the bag represents “the starting point of an extraordinary story that has given us a modern icon.”
The previous owner, Catherine B., said the auction brought back memories of when she had bid for the bag 25 years ago. “I’m already very nostalgic at the thought of knowing the bag is no longer mine,” she said, “but extremely happy it has found a new loving home.”
Birkin: The Origin Story That Shaped Fashion History
In 1984 on a flight from Paris to London, Jane Birkin, the British-French singer and actor, found herself unknowingly seated next to Jean-Louis Dumas, then the Chief Executive of Hermès.
As Jane tried to place her straw bag in the overhead compartment, the contents spilled out.
“He said you should have pockets in that agenda, and I said ‘what can you do? Hermès don’t make it with pockets. And he said, ‘I am Hermès,’” Jane recalled in a 2018 interview with CBS Sunday Morning.
“I said why don’t you make a handbag that’s a bit bigger than the Kelly and not as big as my suitcase which weighs a ton and he said, ‘like what?’”
It’s unclear whether Jane or Dumas sketched a prototype on the back of an airplane sick bag, but Jane’s ideas were noted down. Dumas took the sketch with him and a month later invited her to come and have a look at a prototype made of cardboard.
Based on more of her comments, Dumas then created the black supple leather bag in 1984 and named it after her - the Birkin bag.
The design included a spacious, structured leather form with strong handles and a flap closure. Based on her notes to Dumas an ideal bag had to open properly, have space, and strong straps.
Jane’s relationship with the bag was more practical rather than fashionable or precious. In a profile for Australia’s Sunday Mail, she remarked on its weight and joked about overfilling it.
“It’s bloody heavy,” she said. “It’s only supposed to be for one person’s stuff and then you find yourself carrying everything for everyone else too.”
The bag was named after her, and with time, became one of the most sought-after luxury items in the world.
Jane Birkin: Icon and Muse
Jane Birkin was born in London in 1946 and became a defining figure in both British and French popular culture. Her career spanned music, cinema, and fashion. Her collaboration with Serge Gainsbourg produced one of the most provocative French pop songs of the 20th century, Je t’aime… moi non plus.
Her style was casual and unaffected. She often appeared with little makeup, carrying a basket instead of a handbag, wearing jeans and T-shirts with an effortless elegance. Designers admired her natural, personal style, which made her an obvious muse for fashion houses like Hermès.
Though she lent her name to the Birkin bag, she did not seek to commercialise it. In fact, she requested that Hermès remove her name from crocodile-skin versions of the bag in 2015 after concerns about animal welfare were raised. Hermès responded by assuring her that they would ensure ethical sourcing.
The Birkin Bag: A Symbol of Craft and Luxury
The Birkin bag has become a cultural and economic object of fascination. Waiting lists for the bag are long. Prices start in the tens of thousands and can rise dramatically depending on materials and craftsmanship.
In a 60 Minutes interview in December 2024, Pierre-Alexis Dumas, artistic director of Hermès and son of Jean-Louis Dumas, addressed the brand’s approach to the Birkin. He rejected the idea that Hermès was driven by exclusivity for its own sake and explained the difference between something costly which takes time to create versus something expensive that can “betray you.”
“The cost is the actual price of making an object properly, with the required level of attention so that you have an object of quality,” he explained.
“Expensive is a product which is not delivering what it’s supposed to deliver, but you’ve paid quite a large amount of money for it and then it betrays you. That’s expensive.”
The remark stirred a lot of debate, especially among critics who pointed to the bag’s role in wealth signalling.
Each Birkin bag is handmade by a single artisan. Hermès doesn’t advertise the bag or sell it online. Its rarity is not just about price, but about limited production and access. That mystique is part of what drives its resale value and its place in fashion history.
In the same interview Dumas also emphasised that rarity isn’t a marketing ploy but its about Hermés’ dedication to craft.
“We are about craft we are not machines,” he said.
“And we are not comprising on the quality of the way we make the bags. So if the craft person is not at the level his or her bag will not go in the store.”
Birkins in Pop Culture
Beyond their place in fashion history, Birkin bags have become recurring characters in pop culture, referenced across television, music, and celebrity life as shorthand for exclusivity, wealth, and aspiration.
One of the most memorable moments came in season four of Sex and the City when Samantha Jones explained to Carrie Bradshaw that when it comes to owning a Birkin “it’s not so much the style, it’s what carrying it means”
Later in the episode when Samantha attempts to purchase a Birkin she’s told by the sales assistant that there’s a five-year waitlist.
“For a bag?” she asks.
“It’s not a bag, it’s a Birkin,” the sales assistant tells her.
The episode helped introduce a wider audience to the mythology surrounding the bag.
In an episode of Gilmore Girls when Logan gifts Rory a Birkin, she initially doesn’t understand what it is until her grandmother Emily steps in to explain its significance.
“A Birkin Bag? That’s a very nice purse.A Birkin Bag is meant to be used – and seen.”
This scene and a later scene where Emily is engrossed with the Birkin bag, highlights the generational and class distinctions embedded in the bag’s cultural meaning.
In Crazy Rich Asians (2018), the Birkin is casually referenced in scenes involving Astrid Leong, whose wealth and status are established not just by what she wears, but how effortlessly she acquires rare luxury items. The film helped underscore the bag's global recognition and its specific resonance in Asia’s luxury markets.
In the television show Succession, the presence of Birkins is less overt, but no less significant. Worn by Shiv Roy and others in the Roy inner circle, Hermès accessories, including Birkins, serve as visual markers of old money and restraint. They are not flashy props, but part of the show’s subtle language of power.
In real life, rapper Drake revealed in 2017 that he had been collecting Birkin bags “for years” for investment purposes and to gift to “the woman I end up with.” The statement, made in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, became a viral moment and fueled further intrigue around the bag’s symbolic weight.
Cardi B has also played a central role in the Birkin’s recent cultural life. In 2020, she posted photos of her collection and responded forcefully to critics who questioned why Black celebrities were “ruining” the exclusivity of the bag.
“Y’all don’t do this to white celebrities,” she said in an Instagram video. Her comments sparked wider conversations about race, wealth, and access in the luxury fashion world.
Reality television has also kept the Birkin firmly in view.
In multiple franchises of The Real Housewives, particularly Beverly Hills and New York, Birkins appear frequently. Cast members treat them as indicators of status and often compare their sizes, colours, or rarity in scenes that double as unofficial product showcases.
In 2013, Kim Kardashian received a custom hand-painted Birkin from Kanye West. The artwork, by George Condo, featured surreal, abstract nude figures and was widely debated. Some viewed it as a daring intersection of contemporary art and fashion. Others considered it an act of vandalism.
The moment marked a shift in how Birkins were perceived not just as luxury items, but as platforms for personal and artistic expression.
These appearances across pop culture show how the Birkin bag has transcended its origins as a practical accessory. It functions today as a social signifier, a media flashpoint, and a vessel for everything from celebrity identity to generational tension.
As of now, the Original Birkin bag has secured its place in auction history. The sale of Jane Birkin’s personal bag, which began as an in-flight sketch has become a symbol of craftsmanship, celebrity, and cultural legacy.