Latest news with #Birkins
Miami Herald
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
‘Real Housewives of Miami' star Stephanie Shojaee reveals her pricey guilty pleasure
Think you're obsessed with handbags? There's a good chance that Stephanie Shojaee has you beat. The 'Real Housewives of Miami' star admitted on Page Six's 'Virtual Reali-Tea' podcast earlier this week that she owns more than $1 million worth of Birkins. French fashion house Hermès rolled out this luxury tote in 1984, named after late French-English actress Jane Birkin. The original prototype made for the style maven was sold earlier this month by Sotheby's for $10.1 million in Paris. Handmade by artisans, each purse has a signature rectangular, streamlined shape, two shoulder handles and a lock closure. The quality is unparalleled, and one bag can last for generations. Birkins are known as some of the rarest and most expensive handbags on the planet, with standard leather models starting at around $10,000. Depending on the material, e.g., crocodile, they can really leave a dent in your wallet. Shojaee says out of her 100 or so purses, she has a couple — including one studded with actual diamonds — that are worth a lot more. We found a jewel encrusted beauty on eBay used that's going for a whopping $350K if that gives you some idea. 'I just really feel that you should be able to work and spend your money on what you like,' said the 40-year-old who works alongside husband Masoud Shojaee running the Coral Gables-based real estate empire, Shoma Group. Shojaee, who never buys second hand, was practical about the splurges, calling her treasure trove an investment. 'Why is it no problem to talk about Jay Leno's car collection [or] other people's art collection,' said the real estate developer. 'But a girl has 100-something Birkins, like, she's so shallow. Really?' Let's hope her 'RHOM' castmates don't hope to borrow one of her prized possessions for a night out. Shojaee is very protective of her babies that she has referred to her 'emotional support dogs' on the show. 'I don't let anyone look at them, touch them, breathe on them,' she said. You can also find her accessorizing with them all over the world on her Instagram feed. In one picture Shojaee is standing on a beach on St. Barth's carrying a fabulously huge black Birkin. 'If they call you 'too much' tell them to go find less,' the unapologetic caption reads. 'It will probably suit them better anyway.'
The Star
20-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Star
What would Jane Birkin have thought of the craze over her namesake bag?
The world is in the throes of Birkin mania. This month the original Birkin bag, made by Hermes for British actress Jane Birkin in 1984, sold for US$10.1mil (approximately RM42.9mil) at Sotheby's in Paris. The way Jane wore it, festooned with nail clippers and stickers for political causes, has led to its own slang: to 'Birkinify' one's bag. The omnipresent Labubu plush toys that fans like to hang on their bags are said to have been inspired by the way Jane affixed eclectic trinkets to her Birkins. Riffs on the Hermes classic, such as the Boatkin, have become sought-after novelty items that fetch their own hefty prices. On social media, explainers proliferate on how to emulate Jane's late 1960s carefree, bourgeois-bohemian style, with sheer crocheted dresses and ballet flats. Read more: Still obsessed with Labubu? Sorry, fashion did the bag charm trend first All of this is happening two years after her death on July 16, 2023, after a cancer diagnosis and more than a decade of treatment. She was a cult figure, particularly outside France, where she lived most of her life. Jane, who was born in London, became a revered actress who appeared in more than 70 films and a musician whose most famous song, Je T'aime… Moi Non Plus (I Love You… Me Neither), with Serge Gainsbourg, was a worldwide hit. It was banned by the Vatican for its lasciviousness, and Jane responded that the pope was their best publicist. In 2023 , the black-walled house on the Left Bank where the couple lived opened as a museum, and tickets to tour the residence sell out months in advance. In Jane B By Agnes V , a 1988 documentary directed by Agnes Varda that was made as Jane was turning 40, she dumps out the contents of her original black Birkin bag – the first 'What's In My Bag' video perhaps? Out of the beaten-up black vessel tumble multiple notebooks, a Swiss Army knife, newspaper clippings, Maybelline Great Lash mascara, pencils, cash, cigarettes, a Fyodor Dostoyevsky novel and Scotch tape. She fixes her gaze on the camera with a wry look and says: 'Find out anything after seeing what's in the bag? Even when you show it all, you reveal very little.' Jane knew that the bag had more name recognition than she did. During her life, people would ask if she was the same Birkin as the bag. She'd say, 'Yes, and the bag is going to sing now!' In person, the original Birkin looks as if it might have been found in a shipwreck, with its fraying handles and mottled leather patina and marks from where she had affixed Doctors Without Borders and UNICEF stickers. The nail clippers she had dangled from the bag were still there. It was designed with Jean-Louis Dumas, then the Hermes CEO. In a kind of rom-com-style meet-cute, the two sat next to each other on a flight from London to Paris and came up with the idea for a holdall that would be more suitable than the baskets Jane had carried as bags since she was a teenager. 'She didn't treat it as an art piece,' said Adam Lena, a couture dealer from Warsaw, Poland, who went to the public viewing at Sotheby's. 'It's just a normal bag for every day. That's the amazing thing about it. She didn't treat it as an heirloom.' Everyone else has a very different relationship to the bag. It's nearly impossible to walk into an Hermes store and just buy one. Someone who wants a Birkin has to establish a relationship as a customer of the house, often buying scarves or wallets or sweaters or smaller bags before they are 'offered' one, in Hermes parlance. The bag cost US$2,000 (RM8,500) when it was released in the mid-1980s. Today the least expensive Birkin at US retail would sell for more than US$10,000 (RM42,500), depending on the size, colour and material – tariffs and state taxes notwithstanding. Faye Landes, a longtime retail analyst, said the value of the Birkin prototype was closely entwined with Jane's status as an icon – a category of person as rare and coveted as the handbag she carried. 'Very few people have either the talent or the resources' to become one, she said. At 4:16 p.m. July 10, bidding on the bag began. Some 270 participants from 38 countries had registered for that day's auction after the bag had been displayed in Asia, Europe and the United States. After an invitation-only cocktail party for clients, during which Sotheby's served Champagne and chocolates shaped like tiny Birkin bags, the bidding began. As in a scene from a film, there were gasps as the figure rose from US$1.7mil (RM7.2mil), rapidly increasing in a nine-way bidding war that played out over 10 tense minutes. The bidding ended at US$10.1mil (RM42.9mil), including a buyer's premium, the bag going to Valuence, a Japanese fashion conglomerate. Strangers cheered and hugged one another. The Birkin broke all kinds of records. It became the most valuable handbag ever sold at auction. It outsold the hat of Emperor Napoleon I and Princess Diana's sheep sweater. The truth is that owning a Birkin has become shorthand for making it. Many Real Housewives and Kardashian-Jenners own them. RickDick, the name of an artificial intelligence meme artist on Instagram, posted a parody video of Kim Kardashian breaking the glass of the Sotheby's display and stealing the bag. Kim reposted it. Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, another perpetual object of style obsession, owned a large black one. So what could be more indicative of success than owning the original Birkin? Read more: Like the famous bag named after her, Jane Birkin is a style icon But, what would Jane think of all this? As someone who eschewed plastic surgery on her own face, she would probably find the so-called "Birkin Body" – a US$75,000 (RM318,450) body lift from the neck to the knees offered by Dr Ryan Neinstein – darkly funny. She was a lifelong progressive activist who would have loved that her name was appropriated in the Bushwick Birkin – the nickname for the Telfar Shopping Bag popular with creative types, particularly among people of colour and within the queer community. She might even have taken a shine to the divisive Labubus. She'd had a beloved stuffed toy named Munkey since childhood until she buried it with Gainsbourg, her former lover who died in 1991. Her burial plot is just a few yards away in Montparnasse Cemetery in an overgrown English secret garden where fans leave tokens for her: miniature bulldog figurines, headshots, notes, bouquets of sunflowers. Jane lived a life full of surprises and contradictions as she confronted motherhood, sexuality, fame, consent, abuse, respect. But the Hermes bag that is synonymous with her to this day? Its creation myth didn't warrant even a sentence in Jane's diary. Her life cannot be summed up in one outfit, one relationship, one song, one role or even one bag. – ©2025 The New York Times Company This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Edmonton Journal
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Edmonton Journal
Jane Birkin's original Hermes bag sells at auction for more than $10 million
Article content Article content Birkin asked Dumas why Hermes didn't make a bigger handbag and sketched out on an airplane vomit bag the sort of hold-all that she would like. He then had an example made for her and, flattered, she agreed when Hermes asked whether it could commercialize the bag in her name. Article content 'There is no doubt that the Original Birkin bag is a true one-of-a-kind — a singular piece of fashion history that has grown into a pop culture phenomenon that signals luxury in the most refined way possible. It is incredible to think that a bag initially designed by Hermes as a practical accessory for Jane Birkin has become the most desirable bag in history,' said Morgane Halimi, Sotheby's head of handbags and fashion. Article content The bag became so famous that Birkin once mused before her death in 2023 at age 76 that her obituaries would likely 'say, 'Like the bag' or something.' Article content Article content 'Well, it could be worse,' she added. Article content Sotheby's said that seven design elements on the handcrafted all-black leather prototype set it apart from Birkins that followed. Article content It's the only Birkin with a nonremovable shoulder strap _ fitting for the busy life and practicality of the singer, actor, social activist and mother who was also known for her romantic relationship with French singer Serge Gainsbourg and their duets that included the steamy 1969 song 'Je t'aime moi non plus' ('I Love You, Me Neither'). Article content Her bag also had a nail clipper attached, because Birkin 'was never one for long painted nails,' Sotheby's said. Article content The bag that Hermes handmade for her, developed off its existing Haut A Courroies model, also has gilded brass hardware, bottom studs and other features that differ from commercial Birkins. Article content Birkin's casual, breezy style in the 1960s and early 1970s _ long hair with bangs, jeans paired with white tops, knit minidresses and basket bags — still epitomizes the height of French chic for many women around the world. Article content Article content 'More than just a bag' Article content When Birkin chatted to Hermes' Dumas on the Paris-to-London flight about what her ideal handbag would be, she'd been in the habit of carrying her things around in a wicker basket, because she felt handbags in the 1980s were too small, Sotheby's said. She was traveling with her young daughter, Charlotte, and complained that she couldn't find a bag suitable for her needs as a mother, Hermes says. Article content Hermes later gifted her four other Birkin bags. She kept the prototype for nearly a decade, before auctioning it for an AIDS charity in 1994. It was auctioned again in 2000 and had since been in private hands. Article content The previous owner, who identified herself only as Catherine B., told journalists at the auction that the bag 'has all the attributes of a star.' Article content 'The price is the price of the Hermes story,' she said. Article content Sotheby's called it 'more than just a bag.' Article content
Ottawa Citizen
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Ottawa Citizen
Jane Birkin's original Hermes bag sells at auction for more than $10 million
Article content Article content Birkin asked Dumas why Hermes didn't make a bigger handbag and sketched out on an airplane vomit bag the sort of hold-all that she would like. He then had an example made for her and, flattered, she agreed when Hermes asked whether it could commercialize the bag in her name. Article content 'There is no doubt that the Original Birkin bag is a true one-of-a-kind — a singular piece of fashion history that has grown into a pop culture phenomenon that signals luxury in the most refined way possible. It is incredible to think that a bag initially designed by Hermes as a practical accessory for Jane Birkin has become the most desirable bag in history,' said Morgane Halimi, Sotheby's head of handbags and fashion. Article content The bag became so famous that Birkin once mused before her death in 2023 at age 76 that her obituaries would likely 'say, 'Like the bag' or something.' Article content Article content 'Well, it could be worse,' she added. Article content Sotheby's said that seven design elements on the handcrafted all-black leather prototype set it apart from Birkins that followed. Article content It's the only Birkin with a nonremovable shoulder strap _ fitting for the busy life and practicality of the singer, actor, social activist and mother who was also known for her romantic relationship with French singer Serge Gainsbourg and their duets that included the steamy 1969 song 'Je t'aime moi non plus' ('I Love You, Me Neither'). Article content Her bag also had a nail clipper attached, because Birkin 'was never one for long painted nails,' Sotheby's said. Article content The bag that Hermes handmade for her, developed off its existing Haut A Courroies model, also has gilded brass hardware, bottom studs and other features that differ from commercial Birkins. Article content Birkin's casual, breezy style in the 1960s and early 1970s _ long hair with bangs, jeans paired with white tops, knit minidresses and basket bags — still epitomizes the height of French chic for many women around the world. Article content Article content 'More than just a bag' Article content When Birkin chatted to Hermes' Dumas on the Paris-to-London flight about what her ideal handbag would be, she'd been in the habit of carrying her things around in a wicker basket, because she felt handbags in the 1980s were too small, Sotheby's said. She was traveling with her young daughter, Charlotte, and complained that she couldn't find a bag suitable for her needs as a mother, Hermes says. Article content Hermes later gifted her four other Birkin bags. She kept the prototype for nearly a decade, before auctioning it for an AIDS charity in 1994. It was auctioned again in 2000 and had since been in private hands. Article content The previous owner, who identified herself only as Catherine B., told journalists at the auction that the bag 'has all the attributes of a star.' Article content 'The price is the price of the Hermes story,' she said. Article content
Emirates Woman
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Emirates Woman
The Most Expensive Birkin: How Jane Birkin's first-ever handbag sold for Dhs39.5million
A well-worn black leather Birkin bag, bearing scuffs, scratches, and stains from years of use, has just made auction history. Selling for an astonishing €8.6 million (Dhs39.5 million), including fees, it became the most expensive handbag ever sold. The winning bid of €7 million (Dhs32.1 million) set a new benchmark, proving that true value lies not in flawless condition but in unmatched heritage. This was no ordinary Birkin—it was the very first one ever created by Hermès, made exclusively for British actress and singer Jane Birkin in 1984. She carried it almost daily from 1985 until 1994, long before the style became a global symbol of luxury. Decades later, its visible signs of wear—including discolored patches from charity stickers and personal marks—only added to its allure, captivating collectors worldwide. The bag's journey to this record-breaking sale began with a chance encounter. In 1984, Jane Birkin found herself seated next to Hermès' then-chairman, Jean-Louis Dumas, on a flight from Paris to London. As a mother of three, she lamented the lack of practical yet stylish bags for women with busy lives. In a moment of spontaneity, she sketched her ideal bag—spacious, functional, and elegant—on an airplane sick bag. Hermès brought her vision to life, delivering the first prototype in 1985. What set this Birkin apart from later versions were its unique, personal touches. Jane's initials, 'J.B.,' were discreetly embossed on the front flap, and a small silver nail clipper dangled from the strap—a practical accessory she kept close for frequent use. Over time, the bag accumulated marks of her life, including faded stickers from humanitarian organizations she supported. These imperfections, far from diminishing its value, made it irreplaceable. The auction, held by Sotheby's, saw fierce competition among nine collectors, with bids climbing rapidly in a tense 10-minute showdown. In the end, a private collector from Japan secured the piece, paying nearly double what some of the most extravagant Birkins—like the diamond-encrusted Himalaya or rare crocodile-skin versions—have previously fetched. 18 luxury bags that offer the Hermès Birkin look without the waitlist Jane Birkin, who passed away in 2023, once humorously remarked that she might be best remembered for inspiring this iconic bag. Little did she know that her everyday accessory would one day become the most sought-after luxury item in history. For the winning bidder, this was more than just a handbag—it was a tangible piece of fashion legend, a connection to an icon, and now, the most expensive bag ever sold. – For more on luxury lifestyle, news, fashion and beauty follow Emirates Woman on Facebook and Instagram Images: Supplied & Feature Image: Pinterest
