One of the most iconic items in fashion, Jane Birkin’s original Hermès Birkin handbag, has been consigned to Sotheby’s Paris for sale in July.
There is no public estimate for the handmade, all-black leather prototype for the highly sought-after bag named after the actress, singer, model, and fashion icon.
“At this stage we will communicate it privately to potential bidders,” Sotheby’s global head of handbags and fashion, Morgane Halimi, told the New York Times. “Obviously it is a one-of-a-kind piece, completely apart from any other handbag, or any other Birkin. We are breaking records with Birkin bags on a regular basis at auction. We foresee it to be as unique as the Diana jumper or a worn jersey from the N.B.A. It has value because of what it is and what has happened because of that bag.”
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Four decades before the luxury handbag became extremely hard to purchase in stores, the Original Birkin was commissioned in 1984 exclusively for and in collaboration with Jane Birkin by then Hermès CEO Jean-Louis Dumas.
Halimi called the Original Birkin prototype consigned to Sotheby’s “a singular piece of fashion history”, and a “true unicorn in the world of fashion and accessories.”
The prototype was publicly exhibited for the first time in Europe at Sotheby’s Paris last fall, and then at the house’s offices in Hong Kong earlier this year, drawing an “overwhelming response,” according to a press statement.
When one of the five of Birkin’s own bags last appeared at auction, it sold for £119,000 ($162,200) with fees, on an estimate of £15,000–£20,000 at Bonhams London in 2021.
The Birkin coming to Sotheby’s is branded with J.B. initials, a hybrid sizing (the width and height of a Birkin 35 with the depth of a Birkin 40), gilded brass hardware, smaller bottom studs, a non-removable shoulder strap, marks from stickers that had been applied, and markers of wear from “many years of use” by Jane Birkin.
It has been in a private collection in France since its purchase from an auction at Poulain Le Fur in Paris in May 2000. The Original Birkin was also exhibited as part of the Museum of Modern Art’s “Items: Is Fashion Modern?” show in 2018 and “Bags Inside Out” at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in 2020.
The Original Birkin will be displayed at Sotheby’s New York offices from June 12 and then in Paris from July 3 to July 9 before leading the house’s online “Fashion Icons” sale on July 10.