Jane Birkin’s personal Hermès Birkin prototype worn daily from the mid‑1980s to 1994 has set a new record at Sotheby’s Paris auction, fetching €8.6 million (approximately $10.1 million) after an intense ten‑minute bidding face‑off among nine collectors . The buyer? A private Japanese collector.
This prototype is unlike any other Birkin. Commissioned by Hermès after an informal sketch on an air‑sickness bag during a flight from Paris to London, it features seven unique design hallmarks, most notably a fixed shoulder strap, gilded brass hardware, bottom studs, Jane’s engraved initials, and even a nail‑clipper still attached. The bag bears visible wear: stickers from Médecins du Monde and UNICEF, scuffs, scratches, evidence of Birkin’s active, activist life.
Auction house Sotheby’s head of handbags, Morgane Halimi, described the sale as a “cultural milestone,” noting the bag’s significance as a living piece of fashion folklore. The original Birkin, born from a chance meeting with Hermès executive Jean‑Louis Dumas on a plane, redefined luxury and practicality in one elegant package.
The sale eclipsed all previous records for handbags, the previous top‑selling Birkin commanded just over $513,000 in 2021 and ranks second in auctioned fashion items, trailing only the famed Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz.
What sets this sale apart is its celebration of authenticity over perfection. Unlike pristine collectors’ editions, this bag’s imperfections tell a story of motherhood, activism, and glamour lived in real time . Birkin once quipped that her obituary might begin with “like the bag,” a prediction that at least in part has come true.
