LONDON - British actress and singer Jane Birkin’s original Hermès Birkin has sold for €8.6 million (US$10 million), becoming the most valuable handbag to ever be sold at auction.
The original Birkin is now also the second most expensive fashion item to ever be sold, after it went under the hammer at Sotheby’s in Paris on Thursday.
The classic handbag was designed for Birkin, who starred in many French and British films from the 1960s onwards, and died in 2023.
Birkin happened to be seated next to Jean-Louis Dumas, then artistic director of Hermès, on an Air France flight in 1981.
Carrying all her items in a wicker basket, she complained to Dumas that the handbags of the day tended to be too small to fit all of her belongings.
Dumas and Birkin began sketching designs on the back of a sick bag, and by 1985, Hermès had produced a prototype and presented it to Birkin, requesting her permission to name the new style in her honour.
The leather bag has become a status symbol, worn on the arms of celebrities including Kate Moss, Victoria Beckham, Kylie Jenner, and Jennifer Lopez.
Morgane Halimi, Sotheby’s global head of handbags and fashion, said the spectacular sale of the original Hermès Birkin at Sotheby’s Paris marks an important milestone in the history of fashion and the wider luxury industry.
"It is a startling demonstration of the power of a legend and its capacity to ignite the passion and desire of collectors seeking exceptional items with unique provenance, to own their origin.
"The Birkin prototype is exactly that, the starting point of an extraordinary story that has given us a modern icon, the Birkin bag, the most coveted handbag in the world.
"The sale of the original Birkin is also, ultimately, a celebration of the enduring spirit and appeal of its muse, Jane Birkin."
The previous world record for a handbag was the Hermès white Himalaya niloticus crocodile diamond retourné Kelly 28, which sold in 2021 for US$513,040.
The most expensive fashion item to ever be sold was the pair of ruby red slippers worn by Judy Garland in the film The Wizard of Oz, which sold for US$32.5 million in 2024. - BERNAMA