Though Jane Birkin was not born in France, her style – which turned wicker baskets, cropped T-shirts, men’s blazers and dishevelled fringes into fashionable must-haves – came to define that otherwise indefinable “Gallic” look.
Since her death was announced on Sunday, there has been a boom in all things Birkin. Vestiaire Collective, a French-founded high-end resale site that sells worldwide, says it is already seeing a heightened interest in Breton stripes, wide-leg trousers and A-line skirts – all based on the performer’s nonchalant, offhand look.
Depop, the e-commerce site that is geared towards a slightly younger market, says the Birkin effect is in full swing, with straw basket bags – similar to the Portuguese style she hooked over her arm during the 60s – up by 28% overnight, as well as searches for “French girl” across the board.
But it’s the Birkin, a handbag that once transcended its namesake, that is likely to return to the spotlight in light of Birkin’s death. The UK-based resale site Sellier said it had seen a 20% increase in inquiries. According to Vestiaire and eBay, Birkin bags are now in the most 10 most searched-for handbags.
With a starting price of about £7,000, it was already the world’s most expensive accessory – not to mention a globally renowned symbol of conspicuous consumption, which somehow permeated popular culture as well as celebrity wardrobes. Its infamous waiting list even formed a plotline in TV’s Sex and the City.
The bag came to fruition during the 1980s when the singer and actor was upgraded to first class on an Air France flight from Paris to London. Attempting to stuff one of her Portuguese wicker baskets into the overhead compartment, it tipped over and spilled its contents.
When her seatmate suggested she get a bag with pockets, she told an interviewer, she replied: “What can you do? Hermès don’t make it with pockets.”
The seatmate turned out to be Jean-Louis Dumas, the chief executive of Hermès, who asked Birkin what she would like to see in an Hermès bag. Birkin suggested something “a bit bigger than a Kelly [handbag] but smaller than a suitcase”, before sketching one based on the aeroplane’s “vomit bag”. A month later, his atelier had refashioned the existing Haut à courroies bag into a Birkin.
With no advertising, the Birkin bag’s cultural cache came from its scarcity, with secondhand versions increasing in value and sometimes overtaking their original price, thanks to an increase in discontinuation of leather or colours, or simply hype. Vestiaire has counted more than 10,000 searches for Birkin bags this year alone.
