Original Hermès Birkin Bag Fetches $10.1 Million at Auction
The ultimate accessory, originally crafted for “It Girl” Jane Birkin, set records with the sale
Jane Birkin’s original Hermès Birkin sold for $10.1 million on Thursday, making it the most valuable handbag ever sold at auction. A 10-minute bidding battle involving in-person, phone, and online offers ended in applause, when the bag sold to a private collector from Japan.
The ultimate accessory, which was part of Sotheby’s Fashion Icons sale in Paris, was making its first market appearance in 25 years, and had an opening bid of $1.7 million, instantly shattering the previous record sale for a handbag. It is now the second most valuable luxury item ever sold at Sotheby’s Paris, according to the auction house.
“I am astonished at the result but, as a passionate collector myself, I am first and foremost profoundly moved by the way other collectors have invested so much fervor in trying to acquire what they clearly desired beyond words,” said Catherine B, the bag’s previous owner. “It made me relive my own bidding battle, 25 years ago, and how raw and indescribable the feeling of winning over this wonderful bag was. I’m already very nostalgic at the thought of knowing the bag is no longer mine but extremely happy it has found a new loving home. I wish the new owner as much happiness as I experienced with it.”
Prior to auction, the bag had gone on a world tour of sorts, including a viewing at Sotheby’s New York. “This exceptional prototype, distinguished by seven unique design elements, represents the very genesis of the world’s most coveted handbag,” Sotheby’s had said, at the time.
Birkin, who died at age 76 in 2023, first debuted the bag in 1985 after a chance encounter with Hermès’s then-artistic director and CEO Jean-Louis Dumas while on a flight two years prior. Birkin’s belongings had tumbled out of her wicker basket on the flight, and the two got to talking about the ideal handbag. Birkin wanted capacity, structure, and handles.
While today’s Birkin bags have been altered slightly since the original debut, many features are still intact. The original 40 cm size has been scaled slightly to 35 cm, and there is no longer a shoulder strap on today’s model.
Jane Birkin put her original model up for auction in 1994 to benefit charity, but it has changed hands just twice since, until now.