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The Birkin bag (or simply Birkin) is a tote bag introduced in 1984 by French luxury goods maker Hermès.[2] Birkin bags are handmade from leather and are named after the English-French actress and singer Jane Birkin.[3]
The bag quickly became a symbol of wealth and exclusivity due to its high price and assumed long waiting lists.[4] Birkins are a popular item with handbag collectors, and were once seen as the rarest handbag in the world.[5][6] The bag's value is a matter of its intentionally high price, which has led to its being described as a Veblen good.[7][8]
In 2020, retail prices start at US$11,400 for a Birkin 25 bag.[citation needed][9] Costs can vary widely according to the type of leather, if exotic skins are used, and if precious metals and jewels are part of the bag. A bag made of exotic skin and diamond was sold at auction by Christie's in Hong Kong for a record price of US$380,000 (HK$2.94 million) in May 2017.[7][10] Birkins are distributed to Hermès boutiques on unpredictable schedules and in limited quantities, which creates artificial scarcity and exclusivity. They have flooded the upscale resale market and are frequently resold in second-hand boutiques and through social media.[5]
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In 1983, Hermès chief executive Jean-Louis Dumas was seated next to Jane Birkin on a flight from Paris to London. Birkin had just placed her straw basket in the overhead compartment of her seat when the contents fell out onto the floor, leaving her scrambling to recover them. Birkin explained to Dumas that it had been difficult to find a leather weekend bag she liked.[11] In 1984, he created a black supple leather bag for her: the Birkin bag,[12] based on a 1982 design. She used the bag initially, but later changed her mind because she was carrying too many things in it: "What's the use of having a second one?" she said laughingly. "You only need one and that busts your arm; they're bloody heavy. I'm going to have an operation for tendinitis in the shoulder."[13] Nonetheless, Birkin did use the bag for some time.[14] The Birkin bag has, over the years, become a status symbol, with prices ranging from US$10,000 to $500,000.[15]
In 2015, Birkin wrote a public letter to Hermès requesting her name be removed from the bag,[15] stating she wanted the company to "debaptise the Birkin Croco until better practices in line with international norms can be put in place", referring to the cruel methods used to acquire the skins for the crocodile variant of the bags.[16] Hermès announced soon afterwards that it had satisfied Birkin with new reassurances on this.[17]
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Birkin bags are sold in a range of sizes.[18] Each one may be made to order with different customer-chosen hides, colour, and hardware fixtures. There are also other individual options, such as diamond encrusting.
The bag comes in a variety of hides, such as calf leather, lizard, and ostrich.[19] Among the most expensive used to be saltwater crocodile skin and bags with smaller scales cost more than those with larger scales.[20] Each bag is lined with goat-skin, the colour of the interior matching the exterior.[21] Prices for the Birkin bag depend on type of skin, the colour, and hardware fixtures.[22]
Sizes range from 25, 30, 35, to 40 centimetres (10", 12", 14" to 16"), with travelling bags of 50 and 55 centimetres (20" and 24"). It also comes in a variety of colours such as black, brown, golden tan, navy blue, olive green, orange, pink, powder blue, red, and white.[22] The bag comes with a lock and keys. The keys are placed in a leather lanyard called a clochette, which is looped through a handle. To lock the bag, you close the top flaps over the buckle loops, wrap the buckle straps, or secure the front lock. The locks and keys have number codes. Earlier locks had one number on the bottom. Recently, Hermès added a second number under the Hermès stamp. These numbers are batch codes, meaning many locks may share the same numbers.[19][23] The metallic hardware (the lock, keys, buckle hardware, and base studs) are plated with gold or palladium. Detailing with diamonds is another custom option.[19] Hermès offers a "spa treatment," which is a reconditioning treatment for heavily used bags.[24]
A "Shooting Star" Birkin has a star stamp next to the "Hermès, Paris Made in France" mark, matching the hardware in gold or silver. Sometimes, the stamp is blind (no color) if the leather doesn't use metallic stamping. Occasionally, independent artisans make Birkins for "personal use," but only once a year. Each bag has the artisan's stamp, though it's not unique to every bag. Stamps from more than one artisan may appear on the same bag, as the stamp isn't a serial reference. Fonts and stamp order can differ between artisans.[24] The Birkin bag may be distinguished from the similar Hermès Kelly bag by the number of its handles. The single-handle handbag is the Kelly, but the Birkin has two handles.
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The bags are handmade in France using the company's signature saddle stitching, developed in the 1800s.[25] Each bag is hand-sewn by a single artisan, and is then buffed, painted, and polished, taking up to 18 hours to make.[26] Artisans purportedly train for five years before they are allowed to make their first Birkin bag.[27] Leathers are obtained from different tanners in France, resulting in varying smells and textures. The company justifies the cost of the Birkin bag compared to other bags because of the degree of skill involved in their creation.[28]
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According to a 2014 estimate, Hermès produced 70,000 Birkin bags that year.[29] The bag is highly coveted and as of 2006[update] was reputed to have a waiting list of up to six years.[30] The rarity of these bags is purportedly designed to increase demand by collectors.[31]
As a result of strong demand, the Birkin bag has a high resale value in many countries, especially in Asia, and to such an extent that the bag is considered by some people as an instrument of investment.[32][33] One 2016 study found that Birkin bags had average annual returns of 14.2% between 1984 and 2015, significantly beating the S&P 500 Index in returns over the same period.[34] In April 2010, Hermès announced that the waiting list would no longer exist, implying that these bags are potentially available to the general public.[35]
The Philippine Star reported in March 2013, that a high-end, 30-cm Shiny Rouge H Porosus Crocodile Birkin with 18-carat gold fittings and encrusted with diamonds was sold for US$203,150 at an auction in Dallas, Texas, US.[36]
In May 2017, a 30-centimetre (12") matte white Himalaya niloticus crocodile Birkin with 18-carat white gold and hardware bearing 245 diamonds was sold at a Christie's auction in Hong Kong for HK$2.94 million (US$377,261), creating a new record for the most expensive handbag in the world.[10][37]
According to an analyst quoted by The New York Times in 2019, there are more than one million Birkin bags on the market, while a resale boutique in Miami has sold more than US$60 million in used Birkin bags in five years.[5]
The limited availability of the bags is in part due to the unclear sales strategy in boutiques; there is a low likelihood that a given Hermès boutique will facilitate sale to any prospecting customer, as popular rumour suggests that one must have a long-standing relationship with one of the Hermès sales staff in order to acquire a Birkin, and waiting lists for them no longer exist.[38] The alleged need to purchase other items from Hermès and supporting commission structure for sales associates is the basis of a 2024 California anti-trust lawsuit.[39]
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In addition to the possible counterfeits that all well-known brands are subject to, fake Hermès bags—including the Birkin bag—are alleged to have been made by a group including seven former Hermès workers.[40] Ten people went on trial in June 2020, alleged to have made dozens of counterfeit bags that sold for tens of thousands of euros each, for a total profit of over €2 million.[40] The crime was discovered by police investigating unrelated stolen products. Four of those on trial were skilled leatherworkers; the bags were made using Hermès stitching methods. The counterfeiters imported crocodile skins. Leather offcuts, tools, zips, and faulty bags that were to be destroyed had been stolen from Hermès.[41]
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The Birkin bag is a major plot point of the Sex and the City episode "Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda", in which Samantha is placed on a five-year waiting list for the bag. She is so desperate to obtain one that she falsely says the bag is for her celebrity client Lucy Liu. When Liu finds out she fires Samantha and keeps the bag for herself.[42] The Birkin bag also made frequent appearances on the teen hit series Gossip Girl. Many of the bags, including a cognac ostrich Birkin 35, were from the personal collection of Kelly Rutherford, the actress who played Lily van der Woodsen.[43]
In his 2008 memoir, Bringing Home the Birkin: My Life in Hot Pursuit of the World's Most Coveted Handbag, author Michael Tonello recounted his career selling used luxury goods on eBay.[44]
In the Will & Grace episode "Last Ex to Brooklyn", Grace is given a Birkin by her husband's ex-girlfriend Diane, who works at Vogue. Will angrily says that he has been on a two-year waiting list for the bag.[45][non-primary source needed]
In the 2013 Woody Allen movie Blue Jasmine Cate Blanchett's character carries it like a shield until the end when she finally loses her mind, and her bag.
In the Gilmore Girls episode "Welcome to the Dollhouse", Rory is given a Birkin by her boyfriend Logan. Emily says that around her birthday she had hinted to Richard about wanting one.[46][47]
In How I Met Your Mother episode "The Mermaid Theory", Zoey is seen with a light brown Birkin bag as she enters the bar to meet and sit with Ted at MacLaren's pub.[citation needed]
Kim Kardashian made news in 2013 for a US$40,000 Birkin, given to her by husband Kanye West, on which the artist George Condo painted a group of nude figures.[48] Another picture showed Khloe Kardashian's child nestled in US$108,000 worth of the bags, which drew some unfavourable comments about conspicuous consumption.[49] Additionally, Kim's daughter was publicized while carrying a US$17,000 Hermès bag.[50]
In her 2015 memoir The Primates of Park Avenue, author Wednesday Martin recounts how Birkin bags signal social class status on the Upper East Side.[51]
The Birkin features in the lyrics of numerous rap songs, including Jay-Z's "30-Something",[citation needed] ASAP Rocky and Schoolboy Q's "Electric Body",[52] and the Migos track "Jane" which is a reference to Jane Birkin.[53] Following the release of his and Future's track "Big Mood",[54] Canadian rapper Drake explained the track's lyrics by stating that he has amassed a huge collection of Birkin bags as a gift to his future wife.[55]
Rosmah Mansor, the second wife of Najib Razak, former prime minister of Malaysia, is claimed to have the largest Birkin collection in the world.[56][57] In 2018, Malaysian police found a total of 272 Hermès bags, worth nearly US$13 million, after seizing the family's three apartments in Kuala Lumpur.[58][59]
Other known large collections of Birkin bags include: Singapore socialite Jamie Chua, who reportedly owns more than 200 Hermès Birkin and Kelly bags, and celebrity fashion designer Victoria Beckham, who reportedly has more than 100 Birkin bags.[60]
In 2021, US designer MSCHF bought $122,500 of Birkin bags and used them to craft a new "Birkinstocks" sandal. Rapper Future was seen wearing a pair of the shoes in February 2021.[61][62]
Comedian and rapper Zack Fox makes a reference to Birkin bags in his song "Marinate". Rapper Cardi B is also a vocal fan of the Birkin bag, and references them in her 2018 song "She Bad"[63] and her 2021 hit "Up".[64]
In The Good Fight, episode "The Gang Offends Everyone," Lucca buys herself a brand new, $20,000 Birkin bag and immediately suffers the consequences. For one, the conspicuousness of carrying it around raises eyebrows—Marissa, ooh-ing and aah-ing, quips "Everyone wants one. Like a yacht or a pony."—but then there is also the issue of whether she really has the money to pay for it.[65] The Birkin bag used on set was real.[66]
In Yasmin Zaher's 2024 novel, The Coin, the protagonist finds that her inherited Berkin bag attracts attention and power in New York. She is later involved in a Berkin bag re-selling scheme. Zaher had answered ads for similar schemes, however was unsuccessful.[67]
The first line in A Bar Song (Tipsy) by Shaboozey is "My baby want a Birkin, she's been tellin' me all night long" [68]
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