Celebrated for her provocative rendition of Je t’aime… moi non plus with her partner Serge Gainsbourg, the singer, songwriter, actress and model, Jane Birkin, is best known as a symbol of French chic (despite being English). Birkin is also known for inspiring one of the most desirable handbags – the Hermès “Birkin”.
In 1984, by chance, the Head of Hermès, Jean-Louis Dumas, found himself sitting next to Jane Birkin on a flight. Birkin complained of how she couldn’t find a bag large enough to carry her daughter Lou’s bottles. Dumas responded by designing a deep, supple holdall on the back of an Air France sick bag. The rest is fashion history.
One of Birkin’s own personal Birkin bags will be offered at Bonhams Designer Handbags and Fashion sale on July 20 in Bonhams Knightsbridge. The bag was originally purchased by the current owners in a charity auction benefiting Anno’s Africa in 2014. It is accompanied by a letter from Jane Birkin, and is signed by her in Tipp-Ex on the interior. It has an estimate of £15,000- £20,000.
Head of Bonhams Designer Handbags & Fashion department, Meg Randell, explains: “Jane Birkin was known for really using her bags and customising them to make her namesake accessory her own. This bag shows wonderful signs of use by Birkin, such as the red cord tied around one of the handles, and bite marks from Birkin’s cat on the handle.” Indeed Birkin explained to Vogue in 2011: “I always hang things on my bags because I don’t like them looking like everyone else’s … There’s no fun in a bag if it’s not kicked around, so that it looks as if the cat’s been sitting on it – and it usually has. The cat may even be in it.”
Since the Birkin bag’s inception in 1984, Birkin has been given five bags by Hermès, all of which she has sold to raise funds for charities. This particular bag was initially donated to raise funds for Anno’s Africa as part of a charity auction in 2014. The UK-based charity was set up in honour of Birkin’s poet nephew, Anno Birkin, who died just before his 21st birthday in a car crash. The charity offers an alternative arts education to orphans and vulnerable children in some of Africa’s most deprived areas. The bag was later exhibited in the 2016 Bagism exhibition at Shanghai’s K11 Mall, where it was placed alongside Grace Kelly’s own Hermès “Kelly” handbag.
Other items on sale include a realistic sculpture of a Birkin bag by Christian Maas, with an estimate of £3,000 – £5,000; a Chanel Lunchbox bag from the Resort Collection 2011 (£800 – £1,200), in addition to a mint green tweed and silk jacket by Chanel with an estimage of £500 – £800.
For a full catalogue and details of pre-sale viewing of this live auction, visit www.bonhams.com.
Main featured image via @janebirkinoff
