WORDS BY STEPHEN YU
Drake collects them for his future wife. Kanye had one customised by artist George Condo for Kim Kardashian. Jeff Koons turns them into art, while Virgil Abloh sends them down the Off-White runway. Kate Moss uses them as nappy bags. Victoria Beckham is rumoured to own over 100 of them. Yes, it would be fair to say that the Hermès (pronounced air-MEZ) Birkin bag is the Holy Grail of handbags – and it has a wait list to match its icon status. But just like Samantha from ‘Sex and the City’, you too can hop to the front. Here’s the lowdown on the Birkin’s history, what makes it so special, and how you can own one yourself with FARFETCH’s selection of pre-owned Birkins.
The History of Hermès
In 1837, Thierry Hermès founded his namesake business in Paris as a horse harness shop dedicated to serving European noblemen. Winning various awards during the late 1800s, Hermès earned a reputation as one the finest producers of leather goods for horses, from saddles to bags and accessories like boots, whips or hats. His son Charles-Émile would move their flagship shop to 24 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in 1880, where it remains to this day. By the 1900s, under Thierry's grandson Émile-Maurice, Hermès had become the official saddler for the Czar of Russia and was the first brand to introduce the zipper on leather goods and clothing to France. After producing golf garments for the Prince of Wales in 1918, Hermès would begin its first foray into leather handbags in 1922. Haute Couture followed, along with an expansion into jewellery, watches, porcelain goods and scarves.
But modern Hermès would be defined by two things – its handbags and its ready-to-wear. Hiring such iconoclastic designers as Martin Margiela and Jean Paul Gaultier, Hermès told just as romantic a story for its fashion as Jane Birkin did for its handbags.
The History Of The Hermès Birkin Bag
In 1984, somewhere above the English Channel on an Air France flight from Paris to London, the idea of the Birkin bag was born. As Paris-based English actress Jane Birkin – star of ‘Wonderwall' and 'Blowup' – stuffed her trademark wicker basket bag into the overhead compartment, the contents spilled out onto the seat and aisle below. Fortunately, thanks to a chance upgrade to First Class, Birkin found herself sitting next to Hermès executive chairman Jean-Louis Dumas – the one man who could listen to her grievances that designer handbags were never big enough to carry all the things a young mum needs, and do something about it. After a lengthy discussion about her ideal design and Dumas' recommendation of pockets, the English actress scribbled out a sketch of what would become the Birkin – on the back of a sick bag. Her request? Bigger than the Kelly bag yet smaller than Serge's suitcase (also Hermès, naturally).
The Design Of The Hermès Birkin Bag
What Dumas presented to the 'Je t'aime... moi non plus' singer a year later was what would become the original 35cm Birkin. The bag to which Birkin had lent her name was modelled after her signature handwoven basket, taking the form of a rectangular holdall that was spacious enough inside to carry her children's milk bottles, yet with an internal zipped pocket for the English actress’s personal effects. The tote-like construction had long handles that allowed the bag to be carried on the hands, wrists or elbows. A burnished flap could be sealed using the attached lock and key to prevent the contents spilling out, alongside four studs or 'clou' on the bottom that kept the bag upright when placed on the floor.
Made from luxurious leather and finished with saddle stitching, the Birkin was designed to be both practical and fashionable. It ushered in a new chapter for Hermès, shifting the brand away from its more traditional and classic offerings to something modern women wanted. Placed next to the Kelly that preceded it – the handbag named after the Princess of Monaco Grace Kelly that had defined Hermès since the 1950s – it made old Hermès look stuffy, boxy and too ladylike.