Summary
- Jane Birkin’s original Hermès Birkin prototype is heading to Sotheby’s auction block.
- The design will lead the house’s Fashion Icons sale in Paris on July 10.
Millionaire fashion historians, this one’s for you: Jane Birkin’s original Hermès Birkin is heading to Sotheby’s auction house in Paris this July.
The legendary bag, commissioned in 1984 exclusively for and in collaboration with Jane Birkin by then-Hermès CEO Jean-Louis Dumas, laid the groundwork for what would become the most coveted fashion accessory in the world. The all-black leather prototype, now deemed the “Original Birkin,” is distinguished by seven unique design elements (including a shoulder strap, gilded brass hardware, and a front flap stamped with “J.B.” initials) that never made it to future iterations of the Birkin.
In 1994, Jane donated the prototype to benefit Association Solidarité Sida, the French AIDS charity. Six years later, Catherine Benier, a Parisian vintage shop owner and collector, bought the bag for an undisclosed amount. Sotheby’s has not shared an estimate for the purse at auction, either.
“There are rare moments in the world of fashion when an object transcends trends and becomes a legend. Jane Birkin’s Original Birkin bag is such a moment,” said Morgane Halimi, Sotheby’s global head of handbags and fashion.
Halimi likens the design to other Sotheby’s auction items with “similarly dazzling provenance,” including Princess Diana’s Black Sheep Sweater and Freddie Mercury’s Crown and Cloak. “Like them, the Original Birkin holds the potential to redefine records, but above all, our priority is ensuring it finds a new home worthy of its iconic status and legendary history.”
Ahead of the sale, Sotheby’s has put the Original Birkin on display across the world — first in its Paris Galleries last fall and then at Sotheby’s Maison in Hong Kong earlier this year. The bag will be on display at Sotheby’s New York Galleries from June 6 to 12, before it goes under the hammer during Sotheby’s Fashion Icons sale on July 10.
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