October 14th 2024.
The Birkin bag is undoubtedly the most renowned and sought-after handbag in the world. If you're a fan of the popular TV show Sex And The City, you'll surely remember the memorable episode where Samantha Jones, one of the show's beloved characters, tries to get her hands on a free Birkin bag by taking on Lucy Liu as a client for her PR business.
Back then, the bag was valued at a mere $4,000 - a small price compared to its current worth, which can reach up to a staggering £300,000. Today, this iconic bag is on public display at Sotheby's as part of the new exhibition, Excellence à la Française, which features some of the most notable French art pieces from the past 1,000 years. This is the first time that the original Hermès Birkin has been displayed in France, after being exhibited only twice before - once at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2018, and then at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London in 2020.
The Birkin bag was specially designed for the legendary actress Jane Birkin herself, after a chance encounter between her and Jean-Louis Dumas, the CEO of Hermès, on a flight. This gave birth to the Original Hermès Birkin handbag in 1985. Since then, it has been spotted on the arms of numerous celebrities such as Victoria Beckham, Jennifer Lopez, Rita Ora, and Lindsay Lohan. But did you know that there are seven secrets behind the design of this iconic bag?
Firstly, the key to its uniqueness lies in its size. The first two Birkin bags created by Hermès were 40cm and 35cm, respectively. The Original Birkin bag is a combination of both sizes, using the width and height of a Birkin 35 and the depth of a Birkin 40 - a fascinating fact indeed!
Moreover, the hardware used on the original Birkin bag is gilded brass, which was later replaced with gold-plated, rose gold, palladium, and ruthenium when the first Birkin series was launched in 1986. Another distinguishing feature of the original design is the closed metal rings, which resemble those of the Haut A Courroies model. The later models had open rings at the bottom, and this design was only changed in the early 1990s to the open-top rings we see today.
The inner zip of the original Birkin bag is also different from the later versions. Initially, Hermès used zippers from the éclair company, but from the 1990s onwards, they started using zippers manufactured in a slightly different way by Riri. The bottom studs of the original bag are smaller, and it also had a shoulder strap, which was later discontinued in subsequent designs.
Interestingly, only one Birkin bag has been designed with a detachable shoulder strap, which was released in the 1990s. However, the original is the only one with a non-removable shoulder strap. And finally, the seventh secret of the original Birkin bag is the nail clipper. As Jane Birkin herself was not a fan of long nails, the first designs featured a nail clipper hanging from the base of the shoulder strap - a clever and convenient addition for those who can't always make it to the salon.
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