Spanish
Paris.- The first Hermès bag that was expressly designed for the French-British actress and singer Jane Birkin (1946-2023), was auctioned for almost 8.6 million euros this Thursday in Paris by Sotheby's.
The buyer, whose identity was not disclosed, bid from Japan by telephone.
According to Sotheby's, this is the second most expensive fashion item ever sold at auction, after the ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in 'The Wizard of Oz' (1939), sold for $32.5 million (almost 28 million euros) in 2024.
The first unit of this now legendary model, which shows signs of wear including even traces of glue from huge stickers of Unicef and Doctors of the World, was made of black leather in 1985 and has the initials of its original owner, JB, engraved on it.
The gestation of this now legendary model in the fashion world arose from a chance encounter between Birkin and the then CEO of Hermès, Jean Louis Dumas, on board a plane in 1984. The artist complained that elegant handbags didn't have enough volume for everything a modern woman needed, especially if she was a mother, and Dumas took up the challenge and a few months later the brand sent her the bag. In addition, Hermès asked her if she could name that model after her last name. Birkin, who was the partner of the famous French singer Serge Gainsbourg and mother of the famous actress Charlotte Gainsbourg, used the bag for almost a decade. In 1994, she gave up the bag at a charity auction for AIDS research, when it was then sold for $2,000. After a few years, it was bought at another auction in 2000 by its last owner, the French collector Catherine Benier, who paid an unknown amount and then lent it to several exhibitions.The 8.6 million euros paid for a handbag mark a milestone in the world of fashion items.
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The amount clearly exceeds the $500,000 paid in 2021 for a Kelly model, also from Hermès, in crocodile skin with white gold and diamonds. This Thursday's auction also leaves behind the 'black sheep' sweater of Princess Diana of Wales, which sold in 2023 for nearly $1 million. Birkin, who began her singing career in London, began to excel as an actress when she appeared in the cult film 'Blowup' (1966), by Michelangelo Antonioni. A year later, she moves to Paris, where she becomes an icon of French music alongside her partner, Serge Gainsbourg, with songs like 'Je t'aime... moi non plus', while also becoming a fashion figure and a prominent actress. 'Death on the Nile' (1978) and 'Evil Under the Sun' (1982), both based on novels by Agatha Christie, are two of the most prominent films in which she acted.
