A massive price tag isn't unheard of in the world of Birkins, but this one is surely the most iconic.
Sotheby's auction house just sold Jane Birkin's original Hermès bag, designed and named after the British actress and singer. The handmade, sleek black prototype – now a status symbol for the ultra-wealthy – hit the auction block for a starting price of $10,000. The well-worn bag went on to sell over the phone to a private Japanese buyer for €8.58 million, or just over $10 million, at final auction on Thursday, July 10.
The price was the highest on record for a fashion item, Sotheby's said.
First designed in 1984 as a collaboration between Birkin, who was living in Paris at the time, and Hermès CEO Jean-Louis Dumas, the bag originated via an in-flight conversation.
When seated next to the Hermès executive on a flight, Birkin sketched her ideal tote, and the design house took off running. Her main specifications had little to do with the look of the bag and more with its capacity – at the time, the actress said none of the purses du jour fit what she needed for her busy lifestyle as a young mother.
