CHANEL AFTER COCO: BIRKIN

Friday, 20 May 2011

BAG CRUSH: HERMES BIRKIN

The bag is a symbol of wealth due to its high price and elusiveness to the public. It was named after actress and singer Jane Birkin, its prices range from $9.000 to $150.000. Costs escalate according to the type of materials. It is highly coveted and, for several years, was reputed for having a waiting list of up to 6 years; the longest wait for any bag in history.

Jane Birkin, on how the Hermés Birkin bag came to be:

“I was on an airplane when a plastic bag holding all my things broke and everything fell out — my date book, papers, everything. Just as I was saying how I wish Hermès would make a bag that could fit all my things, the man sitting next to me happened to work for Hermès — it was Jean-Louis Dumas, the head designer! They already had the Kelly bag, named after Grace Kelly, so he began work on the Birkin bag. I went down to the atelier, and he had made it in cardboard. And we talked about it, and I said they should make some changes, like making pockets bigger. And that’s how it was made.”