The original Hermès Birkin bag, once owned by Jane Birkin herself, sold for a record-breaking $10 mln at a Sotheby’s Paris auction, making it the most expensive handbag ever sold.
This was no ordinary accessory—it was the first Birkin prototype, custom-made for the British actress in 1984 after a chance meeting with Hermès CEO Jean-Louis Dumas. Birkin famously sketched the design on an air sickness bag, leading to the birth of the now-iconic luxury handbag.
The worn black leather bag features her initials, a pair of silver nail clippers, and faded humanitarian stickers, giving it unmatched historical and personal value.
A 10-minute bidding war pushed the final price to €8.6 million (about $10.1M), with the winning bid coming from a private collector in Japan. It more than doubled the previous auction record for a handbag.
Birkin, who died in 2023, carried the bag daily for nearly a decade before donating it to charity. Today, the Birkin remains not just a fashion icon, but a high-performing alternative investment, consistently outpacing the S&P 500 and gold.
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