The black leather prototype that sparked Hermès’s most celebrated handbag will be auctioned on 10 July as part of Sotheby’s “Fashion Icons” series.
The Birkin at the centre of handbag history is leaving Jane Birkin’s wardrobe for the auction block. Sotheby’s confirmed that the actress and singer’s own prototype—the black, saddle-stitched tote that inspired the Hermès Birkin—will lead the house’s “Fashion Icons” sale in Paris on 10 July.
Dubbed “The Original Birkin,” the roomy leather holdall became the template for a status symbol that would later appear on the arms of royalty, artists and collectors worldwide. “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. She added that the piece “stands shoulder to shoulder with other exceptional items with similarly dazzling provenance,” citing Princess Diana’s “black sheep” sweater and Freddie Mercury’s stage regalia.
The bag’s backstory is the stuff of fashion folklore. In 1984 Birkin found herself on the same flight as Hermès chief executive Jean-Louis Dumas. When she mentioned that she needed a capacious carry-all “half the size of my suitcase,” Dumas handed her an air-sickness envelope and asked her to sketch it. The drawing became the blueprint for a new Hermès style, produced the following year and christened with her surname.
Sotheby’s notes seven points that set the prototype apart from later editions, from its proportions and metal rings to its brass hardware, shoulder strap, zip and bottom studs. Birkin’s initials—“J.B.”—are stamped on the front flap, and a pair of nail clippers dangles from the strap, a personal touch she was rarely without.
Before the Paris sale, the bag will be on public view at Sotheby’s New York galleries from 6 to 12 June. Birkin, who died in 2023, carried the bag for decades; its next chapter begins when the hammer falls in July.
