Jane Birkin's Namesake Hermès Handbag Just Set an Auction Record

Laurie Brookins
Jul 10
3 min read

Updated: Jul 11

A quick and thrilling sale in Paris on Thursday morning achieved a hammer price that likely will never be broken.

Jane Birkin in her Paris apartment in 2001. — Actress Jane Birkin in her Paris apartment in 2001, with her iconic Hermès bag at her feet. *(Image courtesy of Sotheby's.)*

It was a thrilling 10 minutes in Paris on Thursday morning as nine bidders competed to win the world's most famous handbag — and when it was over, a new record was achieved: $10.1 million for the original Birkin bag, a landmark price (by far) for a handbag.

The story behind the bag is almost as famous as the bag itself. In 1981 Jane Birkin — the London-born actress known for films that include Blow-Up, La Piscine and fan-favorite Agatha Christie mystery Evil Under the Sun — was seated next to Hermès artistic director Jean-Louis Dumas aboard an Air France Flight, and when she tried to retrieve something from the overhead compartment, the wicker bag spilled its contents into Dumas's lap. Birkin's apology included a lament that she could never find a bag ideal to carry her belongings. After four years of design and development, Dumas presented the actress with the stylish leather tote and asked if he could name it for her. The Birkin bag was born; today most Hermès bags are notoriously difficult to obtain and typically available only to established, loyal clients — but none more so than the Birkin, which is considered the most iconic and collectible bag in fashion history.

Jane Birkin's iconic Birkin bag — Jane Birkin's original namesake handbag, sold in Paris to an anonymous bidder for $10.1 million on July 10, 2025. *(Image courtesy of Sotheby's.)*

Dubbed by the house as the “Original Prototype Birkin,” this is the third time the bag has sold at auction, including once by Birkin herself, who after carrying it for almost a decade put the iconic accessory up for sale in 1994 to raise funds for a French AIDS charity. Birkin died in July 2023 at the age of 76 in Paris.

The bag was the undeniable star of a 25-lot Paris sale that has been christened “Fashion Icons including the Original Birkin.” When the auction kicked off on Thursday morning, the initial bid of 1.3 million euros immediately sent a gasp through the room. Frenzied bidding between nine collectors on the phones, online and in the room vaulted the price to the winning bid in under 10 minutes. The buyer from today's sale is reportedly a private collector based in Japan, and it's almost certain this hammer price establishes a record for a handbag that will never be broken. The previous auction record for a handbag was set by another bag by the legendary French label, the Hermès White Himalaya Niloticus Crocodile Diamond Retourne Kelly 28, which sold for $513,040 in 2021.

From the auction exhibition, a look at Jane Birkin's original bag up for auction, right, with a current Birkin in black leather, left. (Image courtesy of Sotheby's.) — From the auction exhibition, a look at Jane Birkin's original bag up for auction, right, with a current Birkin in black leather, left. *(Image courtesy of Sotheby's.)*

“The spectacular sale of the original Hermès Birkin today at Sotheby’s Paris marks an important milestone in the history of fashion and the luxury industry more widely,” Morgan Halimi, Sotheby's global head of fashion and handbags, said in a press statement following Thursday's sale. “It is a startling demonstration of the power of a legend and its capacity to ignite the passion and desire of collectors seeking exceptional items with unique provenance, to own its origin. The Birkin prototype is exactly that, the starting point of an extraordinary story that has given us a modern icon, the Birkin bag, the most coveted handbag in the world. The sale of the original Birkin is also, ultimately, a celebration of the enduring spirit and appeal of its muse, Jane Birkin.”