There are very few surnames – within the fashion industry or otherwise – as closely associated with one singular item as that of Jane Birkin’s.
In fact, for many, the word ‘Birkin’ relates solely to the world’s bougiest handbag, and it was only after news broke this weekend of the sad passing of the ultimate fashion icon, Jane Birkin, that they realised that the beloved Hermès bag was named after a specific person.
But why was Jane Birkin’s name attributed to such a bag? And why has it amassed such a relentless fan base? And *how* do we get our hands on one without remortgaging the house?
Here are seven things you might not know about the world’s most in-demand (and expensive!) accessory…
1. The Hermès Birkin was first sketched on plane sick bag.
Chic, we know, but it’s true. In 1981 a 34-year-old Jane Birkin found herself being upgraded by Air France on a flight to London and being seated next to a man who later turned out to be the visionary artistic director and chairman of Hermès, Jean-Louis Dumas.
“I’m not quite sure what type of bag I had with me,” Jane told Vogue back in 2012, “my husband Jacques Doillon had reversed his car over my basket [photographed below], crushed it on purpose not too days before. [Dumas] thought I deserved more.”
“Little did he know that on this airplane journey, when everything fell out of whatever bag I had, the man next to me said, ‘you should have one with pockets.’ I said, ‘the day Hermès makes one with pockets I will have that.’ And he said: “‘but I am Hermès, and I will put pockets in for you’.”
Going on to make the most of this chance encounter, Jane Birkin said: “‘why don’t you make a handbag that is bigger than the Kelly but smaller than Serge’s suitcase?’ And he said ‘well, what would it be like?’ And I think I drew it on the sick bag – or the not-be-sick bag. And he said ‘I’ll make it for you’.”