Greater than standing symbols, Hermès purses carry a mystique and market demand that make them enduring belongings. It Woman creator Marisa Meltzer explains why the Birkin is coveted not only for its craftsmanship but in addition for its return on funding.
In a world the place tendencies fade in a single day and luxurious items lose their shine, one purse has managed to defy the foundations of trend economics.
The Hermès Birkin straddles the road between luxurious and funding, prized as a lot for its monetary worth as for its iconic design.
Named for the actress Jane Birkin, the bag carries the identical air of easy magnificence, its mixture of operate and glamour making it as fascinating at present as when it first appeared within the Nineteen Eighties.
“She had a wild and wonderful career and is definitely worth knowing about,” defined Marisa Meltzer, creator of the brand new guide “It Girl: The Life and Legacy of Jane Birkin.”
British singer and actress Jane Birkin. (Jean-Louis Atlan/Sygma/Getty Photographs / Getty Photographs)
The Birkin has joined the ranks of gold, artwork, and actual property as a spot to park wealth.
“It’s something that doesn’t lose its value the way most fashion items do. Like driving a new car off the lot and instantly losing half its value,” Meltzer mentioned.
“It’s more like real estate or gold in that sense and I think that right now people are interested in hard goods as investments,” she added.
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That exclusivity comes at a steep value. “I think it would be hard in America to spend less than about $15,000,” Meltzer mentioned.
The unique Birkin was created for Jane Birkin after an opportunity encounter with a Hermès govt on a flight within the early Nineteen Eighties, the place she complained she couldn’t discover a bag that suited her wants. Her lengthy use of the bag solely added to its attract, serving to it fetch a document $10.1 million at public sale this previous summer time.
The “Birkin” bag by Hermes which belonged to British-French actress and singer Jane Birkin on the Sotheby’s public sale home in Paris on July 2, 2025. (Alain Jocard/AFP/Getty Photographs / Getty Photographs)
“There’s this mystique to Hermès,” mentioned Meltzer, noting that the method of shopping for one of many model’s most coveted purses is “deliberately confusing and mysterious.”
“There are no easy shortcuts,” she added. “People can try to buy a bag online that looks like a Birkin, or choose another designer’s version that seems suspiciously similar, but there’s no real substitute for the real thing.”
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That authenticity, Meltzer defined, is a part of what fuels the staggering resale market. “The resale value, though not something Hermès would necessarily encourage, makes these bags true investments, if you’re able to get one.”
A Hermes luxurious boutique in Paris, France, on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (Benjamin Girette/Bloomberg/Getty Photographs / Getty Photographs)
Meltzer’s forthcoming guide, out Oct. 7, delves into the muse that impressed the world’s most desired purse.
As she describes in her guide, the story of the Birkin bag’s creation performs out like a scene from a romantic comedy. Jane Birkin, the English-born actress and singer who lived in France, was on a flight from London to Paris within the mid-Nineteen Eighties.
Identified for carrying wicker baskets as purses, she was struggling to maintain her belongings from spilling out whereas making an attempt to stuff one into the overhead bin.
Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, seven months pregnant, in Tokyo in Could 1971, Japan. (Bertrand Laforet/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Photographs / Getty Photographs)
“Her seatmate on the flight says something like, ‘you know, you should think about getting a bag with at least pockets or a zipper or something,’” Meltzer defined.
Birkin reportedly quipped, “When Hermès makes a bag with pockets and a zipper, I’ll use it.” The person replied, “But I am Hermès.”
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Meltzer explains that the person seated subsequent to Birkin was Jean-Louis Dumas of the Hermès household, then the top of the model.
A girl carries an orange Hermes Birkin bag on April 9, 2025 in Paris, France. (Edward Berthelot/Getty Photographs / Getty Photographs)
“So they took out the only paper they could find, which was an air sickness bag, and she started drawing what her ideal bag would look like. At the time, it was the mid 80s, and she had a baby, so her design was kind of like a glorified diaper bag,” Meltzer defined.
Et voilà, the Birkin was born.
