The Bag That Built an Empire: Jane Birkin’s Original Hermès Birkin Is Going Up for Auction

Luxury has a face. And for the past four decades, that face has been a bag. The Hermès Birkin isn’t just a status symbol—it’s a cultural weapon, a flex, a legend stitched in French leather. But now, the original Birkin—the one gifted to Jane Birkin herself in 1984—is about to go under the hammer, and the fashion world is collectively holding its breath.

This isn’t just any Birkin. It’s the Birkin. The one that started it all. A prototype, really. With its worn-in leather, metal rings, and a shoulder strap that doesn’t even appear on today’s models, it’s a living time capsule of accidental brilliance.

June 9th. Written by Ryan Packer |Editor and Chief of Planning Magazine

The Birth of an Icon (Literally Mid-Flight)

Let’s rewind to that moment of chaos-turned-history. Jane Birkin, the British-French actress and singer, was flying from Paris to London with a straw basket as her travel bag. It tipped over. Contents spilled. Sitting next to her? None other than Hermès CEO Jean-Louis Dumas.

Legend says she complained about the impracticality of her current bags, and Dumas pulled out an airplane sickness bag to sketch something new—something with structure, space, and, most importantly, style. Within a year, she had the prototype in her hands: boxy, masculine, elegant. The Birkin.

A woman with short brown hair, wearing a gray sweater and blue jeans, sitting on a patterned ottoman in a cluttered living room, smiling and holding her chin. There is a black bag with stickers on the floor, surrounded by bookshelves, framed artwork, and furniture.

More Than Leather—A Global Symbol

For years, Jane carried this exact bag through the streets of Paris, not knowing she was toting around the seed of a multi-billion dollar empire. You know a design is good when it becomes more famous than the person it was named after.

It’s been used. Scuffed. Loved. She even tied a nail clipper to it. That’s the magic. It’s not precious—it’s personal. Jane didn’t treat the bag like a relic; she treated it like life.

The Bag’s Second Act: Auction Stage

Now, 40 years later, the very first Birkin is being auctioned off by Sotheby’s in Paris on July 10, 2025, as part of their “Fashion Icons” collection. And let’s be real—this is about to be a moment.

Collectors, celebrities, billionaires, and bag historians are already circling. Sotheby’s hasn’t placed an estimate on it yet, but insiders are whispering it could outbid the infamous Himalaya Birkin, which once fetched over $500,000. And honestly? I wouldn’t be surprised if it doubled that.

It’s not just about the condition. It’s about the mythology. This bag is the blueprint. It’s the Mona Lisa of fashion accessories.

Black leather handbag with a gold clasp, displayed on a white pedestal against a plain gray background.

So, Who’s Going to Snatch It?

Now here’s where I enter the chat. If there’s one person on this planet who deserves to own this piece of fashion history, it’s Kim Kardashian. Hear me out.

She’s the closest thing we have to modern fashion royalty. She’s studied fashion law, she’s curated a wardrobe that rivals the MET archives, and—let’s be honest—she understands the gravity of a moment. Kim wouldn’t just own the bag. She’d preserve it, protect it, and maybe even post it with a caption that breaks the internet. I need to see Kim cradling that beat-up black Birkin in a casual SKIMS fit, giving the girls “archival goddess” energy.

Final Thoughts

This isn’t just an auction. It’s the passing of a crown. The first Birkin is moving on from muse to market, from myth to museum-worthy artifact. Whether it lands in a vault, on a billionaire’s shelf, or on Kim K’s shoulder, one thing’s certain:

The legacy of the Birkin didn’t start with a fashion campaign. It started with a mess. And now, that mess is about to make history.

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