Jane Birkin’s original Hermès Birkin bag has been auctioned off for $10 million. A private collector from Japan won a fiery 10-minute bidding war for the bag, which was designed for and used by the singer and actress, at an auction held by Sotheby’s in Paris. According to Sotheby’s, the bag broke the previous record, which was held by another Hermès bag—a white crocodile leather Kelly that sold for $513,040 in 2021. Sotheby’s also noted that Birkin’s prototype bag is slightly different from other Birkins: It features her initials on the front flap and has small silver nail clippers hanging from the shoulder strap as well as discoloration from stickers she placed on the outside. Birkin came up with the bag while seated on a plane next to Hermès executive Jean-Louis Dumas in the 1980s, who asked her to draw the type of bag she wanted. Birkin told CNN in 2020 that he stayed “true to his word” and created the bag she had drawn. She joked that, when she dies, people “will possibly only talk about the bag.”
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