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Birkin bag

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Birkin Bag made from dyed pink calf leather
Pink Birkin Bag (front)
Jane Birkin, 1985
File:Jane Birkin's Birkin bag.png
A signed Birkin Bag, formerly owned by Jane Birkin, auctioned in 2011 to support earthquake victims in Sendai

The Birkin bag is a handmade purse by Hermès and named after actress and singer Jane Birkin. The bag is a symbol of wealth due to its high price and elusiveness to the public.[1]

Its prices range from $9,000 to $150,000. Costs escalate according to the type of materials. The bags are distributed to Hermès boutiques on unpredictable schedules and in limited quantities, creating scarcity and, intended or unintended, exclusivity.

History

In 1981, Hermès chief executive Jean-Louis Dumas was seated next to Jane Birkin on a flight from Paris to London. She had just placed her straw bag in the overhead compartment of her seat, but the contents fell to the ground, leaving her to scramble to replace the contents. Birkin explained to Dumas that it had been difficult to find a leather weekend bag she liked. In 1984, he created a black supple leather bag for her,[2][3] based on an 1892 design. She used the bag for herself then later changed her mind. Nevertheless, the bag has since become an icon.

Design

Birkin bags are sold in a range of sizes. Each one may be made to order with different customer-chosen hides, color, and hardware fixtures. There are other individual options, such as diamond-encrusting.

  • The bag also has a variety of hides such as calf leather, ostrich, crocodile, and lizard.[4] One of the most expensive is saltwater crocodile skin. Bags with smaller scales cost more than those with larger scales. The bag is lined with goat-skin. The color of the interior matches the exterior. Prices for the Birkin bag depend on the color, hardware fixtures, and skin.[5]
  • Sizes are 25, 30, 35, and 40 centimeters. The 50- and 55-centimeter bags are meant for travelling. It also comes in a variety of colors such as pink, red, brown, baby blue, navy blue, olive green, orange, white, black, and golden tan.[5]
  • The bag has a lock and keys.[4] The keys are enclosed in a leather lanyard known as a clochette, carried by looping through a handle. The bag is locked by closing the top flaps over buckle loops, wrapping the buckle straps, or closing the lock on the front hardware. Locks and keys are number-coded. Earlier locks only bore one number on the bottom of the lock. In more recent years, Hermès has added a second number under the Hermes stamp of the lock. These numbers for locks can be the same for hundreds of locks as they are batch numbers in which the locks were made.
  • The metallic hardware (the lock, keys, buckle hardware, and base studs) are plated with gold or palladium to prevent tarnishing. Hardware is updated regularly to maintain the top quality available in the industry at time of production. The metal lock may be covered with leather as a custom option. Diamonds are another custom addition.[6][4]
  • Hermès offers a "spa treatment" – a reconditioning for overly used bags.
  • A "Shooting Star" Birkin has a stamp shaped like a shooting star adjacent to the "Hermès, Paris Made in France" stamp; this is in gold or silver to match the hardware and embossing. Rarely, the stamp is blind or colorless, if the bag is made of one or two leathers on which Hermes does not use metallic stamping. Birkins or other Hermès bags can sometimes be made by independent craftsmen for "personal use" once a year. Every bag bears the stamp of the craftsperson who made the bag. These identifications vary widely but are not different for every bag made. More than one craftsman's stamp on a bag is not uncommon because the stamp is not a serial reference. Fonts and stamping orders may vary depending on the craftsman.[6]

Craftsmanship

The bags are handmade in France by expert artisans. The company's signature saddle stitching, developed in the 1800s, is another distinctive feature.[7]

Each bag is hand-sewn, buffed, painted, and polished, taking several days to finish. An average bag is created in 48 hours. Leathers are obtained from different tanners in France, resulting in varying smells and textures. Because of the individual craftsmanship, other details of the bags may not all match. The company justifies the cost of the Birkin bag, compared to other bags, based on the meticulous craftsmanship and scarcity.[8]

Demand

Although the Birkin bag is free of logos, it is one of the most recognized bags in the fashion industry and by the public.

It is highly coveted and, for several years, was reputed for having a waiting list of up to 6 years – the longest wait for any bag in history.[9] As a result of the strong demand, the Birkin bag has a high reselling value in many countries especially Asia. [10] In April 2010, Hermès announced that the waiting list would no longer exist, implying that it is potentially available to all.[11]

  • In Gilmore Girls Season 6, Episode 6, Logan Huntzberger presents Rory Gilmore with a Birkin Bag in pink. When Rory, not appreciating the magnitude of the gift, suggests that the bag may be the perfect size for her computer cords, Logan suggests that Rory contact his sister to be filled in on the meaning of the bag.
  • In Will & Grace Season 6, Episode 2 "Last Ex To Brooklyn," Will mentions being on the waiting list (for his mother, so he says) for the Birkin bag after Leo's ex-girlfriend Diane carries it in.
  • In Sex and the City Season 4, Episode 11 "Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda", Samantha Jones uses her client Lucy Liu's name to obtain a Birkin Bag without waiting on the 5 year wait.
  • In 90210 Season 2, Episode 5, "Environmental Hazards" Silver reminds Naomi Clark of the time when Naomi was at Hermès when the saleslady told her they sold out of the Birkin bag she wanted. Naomi said she called the manager and demanded the saleslady fired, they tracked down the bag and she bought two bags: the blue calfskin and the brown crocodile.
  • In July 2011,Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar brought the Hermes Birkin bags on her first visit to India as the FM of Pakistan and made headlines for it. The birkin on her arm was perceived by the media as somewhat odd during her political trip, considering she was representing a country facing an economic crisis.
  • In April 2011 a Birkin Bag was used in the YouTube video Royal Romance by The Other Guys.
  • On the Jay-Z album, Kingdom Come, the track "30 Something" includes the lyrics, "...coming back with Birkin bags. You're chick is like, what type of purse is that?"
  • In the book Everyone Worth Knowing by Lauren Weisburger, the main character Bette is having lunch with her co-worker Elisa when the latter spots someone carrying the bag. Bette is unaware of the significance of the Birkin, and is shocked by the price tag and the waiting list. Elisa informs Bette that she must get on the waiting list, and if possible, put her daughter's name on the list should she ever have one. She then tells her of a friend who, after finding out her name had been moved up 2 years on the list, decided not to go through with a suicide attempt.

References

  1. ^ "Martha's Moneyed Bag Carries Too Much Baggage". The Washington Post. 22 January 2004. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  2. ^ "Bag lady: Victoria Beckham's 100-Strong Birkin Bag Collection That's Worth £1.5m". The Daily Mail. UK. 20 May 2009. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  3. ^ "In the Bag". Time magazine. 17 April 2007. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  4. ^ a b c "Hermes v. Hermes". The Washington Post. 28 June 2006. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  5. ^ a b "Can a Birkin bag Get You Special Treatment?". USA Today. 22 April 2008. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  6. ^ a b "How to Bag a Birkin". The Daily Mail. UK. 28 April 2008. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  7. ^ "Bag Man". The Boston Globe. 17 April 2008. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  8. ^ "Box up the Birkin Hermes Craftsman Stitches Up Lavish Leather Goods in Calgary". The Calgary Heraldhuhuh. 16 October 2010. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  9. ^ "Hermes". New York Magazine. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  10. ^ Bringing Home the Birkin, by Michael Tonello (writer), 2008, Harper
  11. ^ "The Wait (List) Is Over: Now Anyone With $5,000 Can Get Their Hands On A Birkin". Glamour. 26 April 2010. Retrieved 19 October 2010.

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