PARIS.- Forty years ago, a chance encounter on a flight between Jane Birkin and then Hermès CEO Jean-Louis Dumas sparked the creation of a capacious handbag design, tailored to suit the actress and singer’s busy lifestyle: The Original Hermès Birkin handbag. Sotheby’s unveiled the last seven secrets of this legendary accessory as it goes on public display as part of a new exhibition, Excellence à la Française, which champions some of the finest examples of French artistic production over the last millennium. The exhibition is part of Sotheby’s events programme celebrating the opening of its new headquarters rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré.

On view until 31 October, it is the first time that Jane Birkin’s Original Hermès Birkin is exhibited in France after featuring in only two previous public displays, once at New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 2018 and at the London’s Victoria & Albert museum in 2020.

In many ways a work of art in itself, the original Birkin is unique not only because of its provenance, but also by differing significantly to the way the Birkins have been made ever since. Currently on loan especially for this exhibition, the bag was recently examined by Sotheby’s handbag specialists for the first time, leading to the discovery of previously unknown design elements about the bag.

When Jane Birkin, accompanied by young daughter Charlotte, discussed the requirements for her ideal handbag with Jean-Louis Dumas on that now famous short Paris to London flight, her main concern was capacity. She had found handbags at the time to be too small and instead she preferred carrying a large wicker basket, she had bought in in Portugal in the late 1960’s. The wicker basket and its content had accidentally fallen on Dumas, who was sitting next to her on the plane - so he understood the needs of the star.

Borrowing elements from Hermès’ existing sac Haut A Courroies, the finished bag was eventually delivered to Jane Birkin in 1985. The Original Birkin was truly a prototype with 7 key features that, taken together, were never replicated on any other Birkin bag made since. The current version of the Birkin, finalised a couple of decades ago, bear none of those features.

The Size

While the first Birkin bags created by Hermès were in size 40 cms, and then by size 35 cms, the Original Birkin is a hybrid of the two sizes. It has the width and height of a Birkin 35 with the depth of a Birkin 40.

The Metal Rings (Pontet)

The metal rings on the Original Birkin are closed rings (similar to the pontets on the Haut A Courroies model). Subsequently, the rings on models created thereafter remained open at the bottom until the early 1990s, before being replaced by the open-top rings still present on current models.

The Hardware

This bag also bears witness to the brand's evolving use of materials. The Original Birkin features gilded brass hardware, which were replaced by gold-plated hardware (with a check mark) when the first series of Birkin was launched circa 1986. Hermès would also later introduce hardware in rose gold, palladium or ruthenium.

The Inner Zip

During the production of the Original Birkin, Hermès still purchased its zippers from the “éclair” company. In the 1990s, Hermès began a partnership with the Riri company, which still manufactures all the zippers for the Birkin bags.

The Bottom Studs

The bag's feet, or bottom studs, are smaller on the Original Birkin than those eventually used by Hermès to produce the Birkin bags.

The Shoulder Strap

The Original Birkin features a shoulder strap that was not retained on the production of the Birkin since. Only one limited-edition Birkin with a detachable shoulder strap was produced in the 1990s, but the Original Birkin is the only one with a non removable shoulder strap.

The Nail Clipper

Famed for her sexy tomboyish dress sense and casual style, Jane Birkin was never one for long painted nails and so she had a nail clipper on a chain hanging from the base of the shoulder strap, inside of her bag, for easy access and regular use.

The Original Birkin, inseparable from Jane Birkin and branded with her initials J.B on the front flap of the bag, below the lock, became her favorite accessory. She would usually cradle it with both arms and took it with her everywhere. The condition of the Original Birkin reflects the many years of use by the actress and singer, and, in the exhibition, the bag is presented in the exact condition in which Jane had left it.

An activist acutely aware of the power her image carried internationally, she also used her bag as an eye-catching placard to promote causes close to her heart, such as Médecins du Monde and UNICEF – the bag still bears the marks of the stickers she pasted on to it.

In parallel with the exhibition of the Original Birkin, Sotheby’s has launched its dedicated Handbags & Accessories online-only auction, part of its Luxury Sales – a carefully curated seasonal edit which includes a Fine Watches sale and a Fine Jewels sale. The Handbags & Accessories sale features nearly 50 Birkin of various sizes including some very rare models as well as a selection of Kellys and Constance bags, also featuring references from very limited editions. All 130 handbags and accessories are available for viewing and bidding now at Sothebys.com – the Sotheby’s Handbags & Accessories Sale closes on 15 October.

Additional Facts About the Original Birkin

In the course of her relationship with Hermès, Jane Birkin was gifted five Birkin bags – the Original and four others – and whenever asked about her Birkin, she made sure to specify whether it was the Original or not.

Jane Birkin kept her bag for nearly ten years before putting it up for a charity auction « Les enchères de l’espoir » in support of Association Solidarité Sida, a leading AIDS charity organisation in France, on 5 October 1994 and staged at the Théâtre de l’Empire in Paris.

It was subsequently sold again at auction at Poulain Le Fur on 12 Mai 2000 and has been in private hands ever since.

Museography: The Original Hermès Birkin was exhibited at New York’s Museum of Modern Art as part of the show Items : Is Fashion Modern ? in 2018 and again in 2020 at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum as part of the exhibition Bags Inside Out.

‘Excellence à la Française’ – an exhibition of some of the finest examples of French artistic production over the last millennium including the first Hermès Birkin bag owned by Jane Birkin. It runs from 12 to 31 October, at Sotheby’s new headquarters at 83 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré.