Jane Birkin first debuted the bag in 1985.
Photo: Courtesy of Sotheby's
7 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About the Original Hermès Birkin
The debut version of Jane Birkin’s iconic handbag is now on view at Sotheby's Paris
Jane Birkin's original Birkin bag. Photo: Courtesy of Sotheby's
Whether you remember her as the beguiling doe-eyed ingenue in Jacque Deray’s La Piscine or looking impossibly glamorous on the arm of her love, Serge Gainsbourg, sometime in the 1970s, Jane Birkin left behind a legacy of effortless French-girl style when she died at 76 in 2023.
But a transcendent relic of her inimitably chic style remains: the Hermès handbag that bears her name. Not just the iconic design, but the actual, original Birkin she first debuted in 1985. And now through Oct. 31, that rare treasure is currently on view at Sotheby’s Paris at its new headquarters on rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré.
It will be part of an exhibition titled “Excellence à la Française,” which champions exceptional examples of French artistic production over the last millennium. Among the other exhibits are Diego Giacometti’s personal armchair; a Waterlilies painting by Claude Monet; a magnum of Hospices de Beaune wine, along with other rare magnums of Bordeaux; and a perpetual Breguet 4548 watch that once belonged to King George IV.
As for Ms. Birkin’s Birkin bag, the first-ever iteration of what has been called the world’s most famous handbag fittingly reveals traces of its adventures on the arm of one of the fashion world’s most beloved “It Girls.”
The original Birkin differed in size and also incorporated a non-removable shoulder strap. Photo: Courtesy of Sotheby's
For example, Ms. Birkin was not merely an actress and singer but also was a human rights activist who would use her Birkin bag as a vehicle to promote causes close to her heart (e.g. Médecins du Monde and UNICEF)—the black hand-stitched black leather carryall still bears the marks of the organizations’ promotional stickers she’d pasted on to it.
In other words, the handbag is presented in the exact condition in which Ms. Birkin left it.
Proud Birkin bag owners probably already know its origin story: Ms. Birkin was rarely seen without her trusty wicker basket—a chic statement unto itself—and during a 1983 flight from Paris to London she went to stow it the overhead compartment when all of her belongings tumbled out onto her seatmate, a passenger by the name of Jean-Louis Dumas. As fate would have it, Mr. Dumas was the CEO and artistic director of Hermès at the time.
The two got to talking and the makings of the design house’s newest handbag star were born.
Ms. Birkin’s main concern was capacity, according to Sothebys. She had found handbags at the time to be too small, which is why she preferred to carry her essentials in a roomy wicker basket. The Birkin bag, with its pert, structured shape and top handles that could be worn over the forearm, was tailored to suit its muse’s capacity requirements and the nature of her jet-setting lifestyle.
The original Birkin also served as a true prototype for its descendants. Sotheby’s specialists have discovered that there are quite a few key features that distinguish the original Birkin as one-of-a-kind, not only because of its provenance, but also because it differs significantly from the way subsequent Birkins are made. Consider, for example:
The original Birkin model features gilded brass hardware. Photo: Courtesy of Sotheby's
The Size
While the first Birkin bags created by Hermès were 40 cms in size, later, 35 cms, the original Birkin is a hybrid of the two measurements: It has the width and height of a Birkin 35 with the depth of a Birkin 40.
The Pontets
The pontets, or metal rings, on the original Birkin are closed (similar to the pontets on the Haut A Courroies model). The pontets on subsequent Birkins remained open at the bottom until the early 1990s, before being replaced by the open-top rings seen on current models.
During the production of the original Birkin, Hermès still purchased its zippers from the Éclair company. Photo: Courtesy of Sotheby's
The Hardware
The original Birkin is a testament to Hermès’s evolving use of materials. The original model features gilded brass hardware, which was replaced by gold-plated hardware for the first Birkin production run circa 1986. Hermès would also later introduce hardware in rose gold, palladium or ruthenium.
The Zippered Interior Pocket
During the production of the original Birkin, Hermès still purchased its zippers from the Éclair company. In the 1990s, Hermès began a partnership with the Riri, which continues to manufacture all the zippers for all new-production Birkin bags.
The Feet
On the original Birkin, the bottom studs are smaller than those used on subsequent versions of the design.
The Shoulder Strap
The original Birkin features a shoulder strap that was not retained on subsequent productions of the bag. In 1990s, one limited-edition Birkin did debut with a detachable shoulder strap but the original Birkin is the only version with a non-removable shoulder strap.
In the course of her relationship with Hermès, Jane Birkin was gifted five Birkin bags—the original and four others—and whenever asked about her Birkin, she made sure to specify whether it was the original or not. Ms. Birkin kept her bag for nearly 10 years before putting it up for a 1994 charity auction in support of Association Solidarité Sida, a leading AIDS charity organization in France. It was subsequently sold again at auction at Poulain Le Fur and has been in private hands ever since.
The loan of the handbag for its Sothebys appearance is made possible by someone named “Charlotte B”—certainly we can speculate who this might be (Ms. Birkin’s eldest daughter’s name is Charlotte). Which would mean that the bag is fittingly now in the possession of her family.
Cover: Jane Birkin first debuted the bag in 1985.
Photo: Courtesy of Sotheby's
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