The original Birkin bag designed by French luxury house Hermès for Jane Birkin sold for €8.58 million ($10 million) at Sotheby’s Paris, setting a new world record for the highest price ever paid for a handbag at auction.
The very first Birkin bag, created by Hermès for the British icon Jane Birkin, fetched a staggering €8.58 million (about $10 million) during an auction held Thursday by Sotheby’s in Paris. The sale broke the previous record for the most expensive handbag ever sold at auction.
According to Sotheby’s website, the bag belonged to a renowned collector residing in Paris. The bidding, conducted by phone, reached €7 million, and with commissions and fees included, the final sale price was set at €8.58 million.
The previous record was held by a Hermès Kelly 28 bag, encrusted with diamonds and white gold, which sold for approximately $513,000 at a Christie’s auction in Hong Kong in 2021.
“After weeks of excitement, the auction opened at €1 million and stunned the room,” Sotheby’s said in a statement, adding that the Birkin prototype was expected to break the record.
This eye-catching price also aligns with fashion’s recent shift toward bold and expressive aesthetics. Following years of “quiet luxury” dominating runways, designers have recently embraced more flamboyant styles—dubbed a “loud boom” by some trend forecasters.
The identity of the buyer has not been disclosed.
According to Sotheby’s, the original Birkin changed hands twice after being sold at a charity auction organized by Birkin herself in 1994, with proceeds donated to AIDS-related causes.
Catherine Benier, who owns a boutique in Paris’s upscale 6th arrondissement and was the bag’s last owner, told The New York Times that the bag was “the jewel of my collection.”
The bag’s origin has become a modern fashion legend. The late singer and actress, who passed away in 2023, once told a fellow passenger during a Paris-London flight that she couldn’t find a bag suited to her needs as a young mother. That fellow passenger turned out to be Jean-Louis Dumas, then president of Hermès. Their conversation inspired the design of the now-iconic Birkin bag in 1984—a spacious handbag with room for baby bottles.
The bag features the initials “JB,” metal rings, a non-removable shoulder strap, and a nail clipper—among other unique details.
Sotheby’s noted that the bag “bears the marks of years of use by the actress and singer.”
Since then, slightly altered versions of the original have become the flagship item of the ultra-luxurious French leather goods brand. With its highly limited production and elite status, the Birkin bag has become a favorite of celebrities such as Khloé Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez, and Victoria Beckham.
Last year, American fashion enthusiasts even filed a class-action lawsuit against Hermès in California over restricted access to the exclusive bags.
(AFP)
