The original Birkin bag, named after the actress, singer and fashion icon that French fashion house Hermès created it for — the late Jane Birkin — sold at auction in Paris on Thursday. The original IT bag sold for €7 million euros at the sale hosted by Sotheby’s. A staggering €8.6 million euros when you include taxes and fees, including commission.
The large black bag, that has been on display at Sotheby’s in Paris for the last few days, bears traces of its 10 years with the queen of bohemian style: wear and tear, cuts on the corners, and traces of glue from large UNICEF and Médecins du Monde stickers. Birkin’s initials, JB, are engraved under the golden buckle and the bag also has a nail clipper attached because Birkin “was never one for long painted nails,” Sotheby’s said in a press release.
“More than just a bag, the Birkin has evolved from a practical accessory to become a timeless cultural icon,” the auction house said. “Its presence spans the worlds of music, film, television and the arts,” it added. “It is a red-carpet staple, a fashion magazine mainstay, and a coveted piece in the wardrobes of celebrities, artists and stylists.”
Paris-based British actress Jane Birkin died on July 16, 2023, at home in Paris at the age of 76. No cause of death was disclosed. Before her death she had sold her bag at a charity auction for AIDS research in 1994 and it was purchased for 2,000 dollars. It was bought at another auction in 2000 by its last owner, French collector Catherine Benier, who paid an undisclosed amount and lent it to several exhibitions.
“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,” said Sotheby’s head of handbags and fashion, Morgane Halimi before the record-breaking sale. “It is incredible to think that a bag initially designed by Hermès as a practical accessory for Jane Birkin has become the most desirable bag in history.”
It’s true. The bag was a happy accident, borne out of an exchange between former Hermès chief executive Jean-Louis Dumas and Birkin during an Air France flight in the early ’80s. The idea of the Birkin bag was born in 1983, somewhere above the English Channel on an Air France flight from Paris to London. Birkin had been upgraded to first class, and as she stuffed her then-trademark wicker basket bag into the overhead compartment, the contents spilled out onto the seat and aisle below. As if by fate, Birkin was sitting next to the executive chairman of Hermès at the time, Jean-Louis Dumas. Birkin began to rant to Dumas about how nicer bags were never big enough to carry all of her belongings, and Dumas – realizing Birkin couldn’t be the only woman to encounter this problem – was inspired to create something unique, fashionable and practical.
A year later, Dumas presented Birkin with the original 35-centimetre Birkin bag, a deep and sturdy rectangular design made of supple black leather. It was spacious yet sophisticated, sealed to prevent anything from spilling out and featuring functional pockets.
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.”
“Well, it could be worse,” she added.
The record-breaking auction
Jane Birkin’s original Birkin bag sold for a record €7 million euros (about US$8.2 million) at auction in Paris on Thursday, July 10, 2025. After you include taxes and fees, which includes commission, the grand total comes to a staggering €8.6 million euros.
The auction started around 10:15am EST as the auctioneer reminded the crowd that the bag was “totally unique” and “the most famous bag of all time.” As expected, the bidding started at one million euros and quickly became stratospheric.
Nine different collectors placed bids by telephone, online, and in the room throughout an intense auction that lasted just over ten minutes. Bids quickly passed 2 million euros, then 3 million, 4 million and 5 million. When the price jumped from 5.5 million to 6 million euros in one swoop, there were whistles and applause. The final bids were 6.2 million euros, then 6.5 million, then 6.8 million before the last winning bid: 7 million euros.
The bag was sold to an unidentified buyer from Japan for €7 million euros. The huge amount — which drew gasps and applause from the audience — crushed what auctioneer Sotheby’s had said was the previous record for a handbag. (That was $513,040 USD, for a White Himalaya Niloticus Crocodile Diamond Retourne Kelly 28.)
Sotheby’s didn’t immediately identify the buyer, but early rumours say the buyer may have been Japanese billionaire and art collector Yusaku Maezawa.
Only one fashion item has sold at auction for more: a pair of ruby red slippers that were worn by Judy Garland in the iconic 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, and stolen from a museum nearly two decades ago sold for $32.5 million in 2024.
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