Birkin’s battered bag fetches $14 million

Bidders said to include Kim Kardashian helped the scuffed accessory that once belonged to the Anglo-French actress smash the previous record for a handbag.

Hermès created the bag for Jane Birkin after she met the label’s chief executive on a plane. Picture: Alain Jocard and Gilles Leimdorfer/AFP

More money than sense, or worth it to secure the Mona Lisa of It-bags? The Anglo-French actress Jane Birkin’s eponymous leather Hermes tote is the world’s most wanted arm candy that launched a thousand dupes. Now it is the world’s most expensive too, after an original Birkin sold for €8.6 million (AU$14m) at auction in Paris.

An auction officer displays the original Birkin bag created by Hermès for Jane Birkin in 1984, prior to its auction Thursday, July 10, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Sotheby’s livestreamed the ten-minute auction, which was held during the biannual couture week, to coincide with an influx of big spenders to the city. The nine bidders were rumoured to have included Kim Kardashian and the Canadian rapper Drake, but the bag finally sold to a private collector in Japan via telephone.

Experts estimated that bids would reach £1.5 million, but three telephone bidders pushed the numbers much higher. While the hammer price was £6 million, the buyer’s premium took its final price tag to £7.4 million.

Hanushka Toni, a collector and chief executive of the luxury resale platform Sellier, said: “I’ve never been to an auction that was so electric.” Her top price had been €2 million. “A lady entered the race at the end who hadn’t previously been bidding. When the hammer came down, the room erupted into applause.”

The 35cm by 40cm top-handled bag sat on a plinth inside a glass case in front of the audience. Its leather was faded and scuffed and still had residue from Birkin’s Unicef and Medecins du Monde stickers. Its original gilded brass hardware had been replaced with gold plating, and its zips and studs differed from modern versions. Inside, a nail clipper hung from a chain - Birkin kept her nails short.

A picture of the handbag of actress Jane Birkin as she poses during the photocall of 36 vues du Pic Saint Loup during the Venice film festival in 2009. Picture: Damien Meyer/AFP Photo

“It was kind of falling apart,” Toni said. “It had holes at the corners and the handles were quite worn. Parts of it looked very soft and scratched. Jane Birkin was famous for absolutely ruining her bags.”

Birkin, who died in 2023 aged 76, sketched a design for the bag on an aeroplane sick bag while on the same flight as Hermes’s then chief executive, Jean-Louis Dumas. The wicker basket she was travelling with had spilled it contents. “The day Hermes make one with pockets, I will have that,” she told him.

The nine bidders were rumoured to have included Kim Kardashian. Picture: Arnold Jerocki/Getty Images for Balenciaga

Jane Birkin with her Hermes handbag at Wharf 1, Sydney Theatre Company headquarters for a Hermes Party in her honour.

The actress was given five of the bags named after her and sold one in 1994 to raise funds for Aids charities. It was later bought by Catherine Benier, a boutique owner in Paris, who sold it yesterday (Thursday).

Although Hermes’s Kelly bag - named for Grace Kelly - predates the Birkin, it is its roomier, flap-over style that has become one of the most recognisable. It is also one of the most bankable. For those who can stretch to the entry price of £12,000, Birkin bags are said to be a better investment than gold.

The Times