Birkin Bag
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Birkin is a handbag manufactured by the "high-end" leather goods and ready-to-wear manufacturer Hermès. It is named after British-born actress and singer Jane Birkin, long resident in France.
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[edit] Origin
Birkin herself told the story of how she was travelling on an aeroplane, seated next to the President of Hermès, when she spilled the contents of her handbag. She sketched her ideal bag, thus providing the model for what became known as the "Birkin" <ref>The Times Guide to Paris Style & Fasion, October 2006</ref>. In 2006, Birkin remarked that the fame of the bag had exceeded that of herself: "Now when my daughter [the actress Charlotte Gainsbourg] goes to America, they ask her if she is the daughter of the bag" <ref>Times, 11 August 2006</ref>.
[edit] Exposure
Due to exposure of the bag on popular television shows such as Sex and the City, Gilmore Girls and Will & Grace, the Birkin has become a symbol of ultimate luxury, although its ostentatious use by the wives and girlfriends ("WAGs") of British footballers during the 2006 World Cup in Germany caused some fashion writers to speculate as to its continued desirability <ref>Shane Watson, Sunday Times Style, 6 August 2006</ref>. In Paris it has been associated with, among others, so-called BCBG (bon chic bon genre) women.
[edit] Availability
Generally, the cost of Birkin starts at about $6,000 and can easily make its way into 5- and sometimes 6-digit figures. The alleged waiting list for a Birkin is now over two years, although, in practice, a customer can walk into a Hermès shop and purchase one if the shop manager feels that she is a legitimate buyer and not a reseller. In Plum Sykes' novel Bergdorf Blondes (2004), set among New York's Park Avenue set, Julie Bergdorf stole a Birkin from her family's store, Bergdorf Goodman, so that she could avoid a three year wait. Sophie Albou, founder of the fashion house, Paul & Joe, claimed to have bought a Birkin each season for ten years, describing her collection as "an expensive addiction but ... part of my heritage as a French woman" <ref>The Times Guide to Paris Style & Fasion, October 2006</ref>.
[edit] Notes
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