WATCH: First-ever Birkin bag sold for over R178 million
The original Birkin crafted for Jane Birkin in 1985. Picture: ETX/Sotheby's©
A one-of-a-kind Hermès Birkin bag, originally designed for British actress and singer Jane Birkin, has been sold at auction for a staggering €8.5 million, approximately R178 million.
The sale sets a new world record, making it the most expensive handbag ever sold at auction. The final price includes commission and fees.
The historic sale was hosted by Sotheby's in Paris on Thursday, 10 July, and was live-streamed worldwide.
ALSO READ: SA-born artist Marlene Dumas breaks global record with over R245 million painting sale [PICS]
Rare Birkin bag features initials and custom design details
Described as a 'historic, handcrafted prototype,' the bag features Jane Birkin's initials, J.B., engraved on it. Unique design elements include closed metal rings, a fixed shoulder strap, and even a built-in nail clipper.
Morgane Halimi, Sotheby's global head of handbags and fashion, called the price a 'startling demonstration of the power of a legend.'
She said it highlighted the passion of collectors for rare items with unique provenance.
'The Birkin prototype is exactly that, the starting point of an extraordinary story that gave rise to the modern icon, the Birkin bag. It is the most coveted handbag in the world,' she added.
NOW READ: New beginnings: Rugby WAG Marise Pollard on building a new family home after moving from the UK
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The Citizen
2 days ago
- The Citizen
WATCH: First-ever Birkin bag sold for over R178 million
The historic sale was hosted by Sotheby's in Paris this week. The original Birkin crafted for Jane Birkin in 1985. Picture: ETX/Sotheby's© A one-of-a-kind Hermès Birkin bag, originally designed for British actress and singer Jane Birkin, has been sold at auction for a staggering €8.5 million, approximately R178 million. The sale sets a new world record, making it the most expensive handbag ever sold at auction. The final price includes commission and fees. The historic sale was hosted by Sotheby's in Paris on Thursday, 10 July, and was live-streamed worldwide. ALSO READ: SA-born artist Marlene Dumas breaks global record with over R245 million painting sale [PICS] Rare Birkin bag features initials and custom design details Described as a 'historic, handcrafted prototype,' the bag features Jane Birkin's initials, J.B., engraved on it. Unique design elements include closed metal rings, a fixed shoulder strap, and even a built-in nail clipper. Morgane Halimi, Sotheby's global head of handbags and fashion, called the price a 'startling demonstration of the power of a legend.' She said it highlighted the passion of collectors for rare items with unique provenance. 'The Birkin prototype is exactly that, the starting point of an extraordinary story that gave rise to the modern icon, the Birkin bag. It is the most coveted handbag in the world,' she added. NOW READ: New beginnings: Rugby WAG Marise Pollard on building a new family home after moving from the UK
Daily Maverick
2 days ago
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No freak show — Everybody's Talking About Jamie is a musical with a gender-transcending hero
Based on the true story of a British schoolboy who set out to attend his high-school dance in a dress, the show addresses teenagers on their own terms. Despite some salty language and a scene or two featuring teenaged boys comically discussing rapacious plans for their ambitious penises, Everybody's Talking About Jamie hits just the right notes for young audiences caught up in some of the existing and emerging complexities of our time. The British musical is based on a 2011 documentary (Jamie: Drag Queen at 16) about a Sheffield schoolboy who not only wanted to attend his high school dance wearing a dress, but also aspired to become a drag queen. The show premiered in Sheffield in 2017, became a hit on the West End and on Broadway, and was turned into a film. It owes a little something to everything from the transformative magic of Cinderella to the queer celebration of cross-dressing in Rocky Horror. And, like the musical Kinky Boots, it explores drag culture in the context of a poorer, working-class north England town. Its message of acceptance, of self and others, though, is universal. And vital. It takes on homophobes, absent fathers and the tricky path to unconditional self-love (don't worry, the path is definitely not twee), all while making a case for mean-spirited dullards to stop policing other people's identities. The iteration that's just opened in Cape Town at Artscape's intimate Arena theatre is a student production, a showcase of the triple-threat talents of a large ensemble cast from the Waterfront Theatre School. Challenges for young cast It comes with plenty of challenges for the young, enthusiastic cast, including Sheffield (and Jamaican) accents, boys sashaying and dancing in heels, a set that gets a little bit in the way of the action, and – along with a lot of scene changes – a roller-coaster of emotional ups and downs on the way to catharsis, healing and redemption. Whether or not all of these challenges are surmounted, isn't really the point. While the show perhaps lacks polish, it is not without its triumphs: there is tremendous life, passion and energy on stage – and the songs, the big-hearted story and the celebration of an independent spirit will win you over. And while some of the best scenes are its intimate moments (such as when Jamie's mum, played by Danielle Bosman, tenderly sings about her unconditional love for her boy), it's the energising large-scale sequences that really make the Arena come alive with the whizz-bang choreography, the best of which includes riffs on ballroom vogueing and snatches of distinctly South African dance moves that make it all feel very much of the moment and quite close to home. The titular Jamie New is played by the spry young John Marshall, who has both the cheekbones and the legs for the part. Jamie's a bit of a paradox, though. Bright, sunshiny and perennially positive, there's something in the performance here that perhaps reflects the conservative backlash against personal freedom that is emerging across the globe. While Jamie exudes a fierce confidence that occasionally veers into unabashed narcissism, there are moments when he's less certain, almost held back, making him a lot more gritty and complicated than you'd expect from a teenage boy who, within the first few scenes, is given a pair of red high-heel shoes by his working-class single-and-struggling mum. This isn't a show about a boy's battle to come out of the closet – we're beyond that, and Jamie is a hero designed for a brave new openminded world – but there are moments (such as when he butts heads with his school counsellor over his right to equality) when you're reminded of the ways in which the so-called Free World seems to be going backwards. Marshall has a tough task balancing the multiple nuances and intricacies of the role, and he does a commendable job. What he allows to come through is the fact that the show is not actually about a boy getting his own way in an unjust world, but about a boy who learns that there is more to life than being the centre of the show. Sure, everybody is eventually talking (and singing) about Jamie, but only because Jamie has nabbed the spotlight while disappearing into the guise of an alter ego – what he learns in the second act, though, is that there's more to life than 'me' (or Mimi Me, his drag persona). As wonderful as Jamie feels when he achieves social acceptance (in the form of 'everybody' talking about him), the real lesson is that genuine happiness lies in self-acceptance, being himself rather than escaping into the superficial joy of wearing a pretty dress. And while there's plenty of acceptance – from his mother, his best friend and by most of his classmates who don't seem to care either way about his sexuality – many familiar negative tropes and stereotypes are there, too. Chief among them are his homophobic and neglectful father and a school bully who, in a touching performance by Khanya Gwe, manages to convey some glimmer of the broken soul that dwells inside Jamie's bigoted nemesis. Which means that, as much as this is one of those feel-good musicals with a predictably upbeat outcome, it's not without its more sobering moments. The show is what some might call 'woke', with some colossal moments of the gay hero reclaiming homophobic slurs. It also shapes an interesting conversation around the theory (posed in the show by Asanda Mngadi's semi-retired drag queen, Loco Chanelle) that, while 'a boy in a dress is something to be laughed at, a drag queen is something to be feared'. As it turns out, neither is true. Charmingly bitchy There's nothing at all scary, in fact, about the show's trio of charmingly bitchy queens – Laika Virgin (Andrew Woods), Tray Sophisticay (Andrew Ingram) and Sandra Bollock (Krys Igirubuntu) – who most precisely capture the spirit and energy of the musical. They bring biting humour, a touch of glamour and plenty of swank to their parts. And they make a pretty good go of stealing the show. That said, not everything in this production coheres quite as well as the drag queens, and there are times when the cast seems a touch inhibited, when the actors underplay, forgetting that in musicals everything is heightened – or should be – so my sense is that it's a show that will improve with time as everyone finds their groove. One harder-to-resolve problem is that the set itself impedes the staging. There's a massive, squat, pyramid-shaped rostrum in the middle of the performance space which, rather than serving the show, frequently squashes the action into uncomfortably restrictive spaces. There's also the question of the energy dropping off between scenes, which has the effect of making the show lag a bit. To its credit, this production really manages to get into some of the deeper nuances of the story: that it's not so much about a boy figuring out how to get his own way, but about a boy learning that he is not the centre of the universe. Jamie gets his much-needed lesson in inner beauty from his best friend, Pritti, a bookish, hijab-wearing Muslim girl played with diligent seriousness and real commitment by Kate Lagan. What Pritti conveys is the soul of the story: that real actualisation has nothing to do with fame, celebrity, notoriety or having everyone talk about you. Jamie's real journey is coming to terms with the fact that he is enough. And if that's not a valuable message for young people caught up in all the nonsense in the world today, I don't know what is. DM
IOL News
3 days ago
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The Queen presides over AI glitches & human glory
In as much as evergreen British hopes, riding high on former British No 1, Cameron Norrie, their last player standing in the Wimbledon Quarters, were dashed 6-2, 6-3,6-3 on the rock that is two-time defending champion, Carlos Alcaraz, the Brits can walk away with something to celebrate this week. For the first time in decades, they have a reigning monarch, Queen Camilla, as a regular in the Royal Box, genuinely applauding the King of Grass, Novak Djokovic, fighting off young pretenders to his 7x throne. Lest we forget Queen Elizabeth 11, was no tennis fan and only attended SW7 on her Silver Jubilee & the Championship's centenary. Moreover in tandem with the modernization of the monarchy, Wimbledon, the last bastion of traditionalism has loosened up like veteran Djokovic stretching his weary limbs to accommodate the onslaught of a new generation of aggressors and embraced not only A1 technology, but thrown caution to the wind regarding dress codes: Bare backs, mini skirts and pink hair were all on display in those plush seats behind the elegantly attired Queen. Fortunately Her Majesty was too intrigued by Djokovic's dramatic exhortations to the Gods above and his own box, at a set down against Italian, Flavio Cobolli to notice. Unfortunately whilst one can turn a blind eye to human errors of judgement, incessant computer glitches, that delay matches at critical moments are a little harder to ignore: Following a farcical episode, in which the umpire halted a match between Britain's Sonny Kartal and Russian, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, because the electronic line calling device was accidentally switched off, costing the latter a point, Quarter Finalists, Taylor Swift and Karen Khachanov, were rudely interrupted mid rally, when the same machine incorrectly called 'fault' again. Be this an embarrassment to the All England Club, given British No 1s, Emma Raducanu and Jack Draper are among the protagonists asking for linesmen to be reinstated, Chief Executive, Sally Bolton displayed stiff upper lip, in refusing to be swayed in this giant leap towards A1. Djokovic proved as unwavering in guarding his own piece of Centre Court turf: It was painful to watch the Serbian icon struggling to fend off this new breed, proving a handful with their serve volleying skills, something he admitted to his nemesis, Roger Federer, also watching from the Royal Box, was still missing from his otherwise immaculate repertoire. However one can only admire the sheer depth of mental superiority from which Djokovic draws to escape defeat, when the chips were down against first Alex De Minaur and then Cobolli. World No 1, Jannik Sinner- Djokovic's Semis opponent- represented the ultimate test in mental fortitude. Frankly the Italian by his own admittance, should've been on a plane home. Instead Sinner has enjoyed more than a devils luck in this event; he evidently has the new Popes powerful blessing, because a tragedy dealt him his pass to the Semis: Brilliant 'Baby Federer' aka Grigor Dimitrov, employed the perfect aggressive volleying tactics to break Sinner's baseline rhythm, until at two sets up and two all in the third, the Bulgarian damaged a pectoral muscle, after serving an ace and was forced to retire from his third consecutive Slam, from a position of ascendency. If ever there were a veteran deserving of a Major win, it is Dimitrov. Instead the Gods rewarded 15th seed, American, Amanda Anisimova with a riveting Semis 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory over World No 1, Aryna Sabalenka, to become the first American Wimbledon Finalist since Serena Williams. Meanwhile Alcaraz looks rock solid to break another record on his best surface.
