The first ever Birkin bag, made for Jane Birkin in 1985 by Hermes, has sold for £7.4 million at a Paris auction. It is the most valuable handbag ever sold at auction.
The Birkin bag is almost certainly the most famous, collectible and valuable handbag – and perhaps fashion accessory – ever made.
The original is now one of the most valuable fashion items ever sold.
This example was a prototype, designed for the English-born actor Jane Birkin, after she met Hermes director Jean-Louis Dumas on a flight.
Birkin, who was with her young daughter, Charlotte, complained that it was impossible to find a bag large enough for everything she needed to travel with.
Described by auctioneer as “the very first Birkin”, the “most famous bag of all time” inspired an extraordinary, drawn-out bidding battle entirely from telephone bidders.
There were gasps, oohs and applause as the bag went quickly beyond first €3 million then €4 million to €5 million then to €6.8 million as discussions with phone bidders got longer.
The hammer finally fell at €7 million, which is £6.0 million or $8.1 million, to inspire a standing ovation and a prolonged break in the sale. With fees, the price, announced by Sotheby’s is €8.6 million, $10.1 million or around £7.4 million.
Jane Birkin sold the bag in 1994 to benefit an AIDS charity. In 2000 a bag collector called Catherine Benier bought it for an undisclosed fee. She has owned it since then, though it has been loaned to museum exhibits.
Birkin reportedly took the bag everywhere, and the stickers for her favourite causes she stuck to it have left marks today’s buyers will have to live with. Image courtesy of Sotheby’s.
Jane Birkin was a huge star. Little Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jane’s daughter with French singer Serve Gainsbourg, is now a celebrated actor and singer too.
But her need for a large, good-looking, practical bag is one every mum will recognise.
So was born the bag that realised £6 million in Paris today.
Before the sale, Morgane Halimi, Sotheby’s global head of handbags and fashion, said: “There is no doubt that the Original Birkin bag is a true one-of-a-kind — a singular piece of fashion history that has grown into a pop culture phenomenon that signals luxury in the most refined way possible.”
Jane Birkin, pictured her in 1970, was already a glamorous style icon, but it was as a busy, working mum that she inspired this lasting legacy piece.
The example sold was the prototype that Dumas gave to Birkin, asking her permission to name the line in her honour.
Jane Birkin died in 2023. She used the bag regularly. Today, along with the bag – marked by long use and activist stickers – the buyer gets a pair of nail clippers affixed to one of the bag’s internal straps.
The final production model has substantial differences to this example, which is a different size, has a shoulder strap, different hardware and metal rings.
Since Birkin took possession of the bag in 1985, the brand has become a magnet for collectors, with a lively secondary market, inspired in part by the restrictions on buying new bags caused by the extraordinary demand it inspires.
Most Birkin bags go for around $20,000.
A Hermes Himalaya Kelly bag was before today the most valuable ever handbag. Its white gold and diamond hardware helped it to make $450,000 at auction in 2022.
