Original Hermès Birkin Bag Just Went Up for Sale and It's Expected to Make History: ‘Mother of All It Bags’

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Original Hermès Birkin Bag Just Went Up for Sale and It's Expected to Make History: ‘Mother of All It Bags’ originally appeared on Parade.

The original Birkin bag created for actress and model Jane Birkin in 1984 just went up for sale—and it’s expected to make history with a record-breaking price. The iconic bag inspired legions of fashionistas for generations, all hoping to purchase the elusive Hermès Birkin, which remains scarce to this day.

Sotheby’s is set to auction Jane Birkin’s original bag Thursday. The bag was created for the fashion icon after a chance meeting on an airplane with Hermès CEO Jean-Louis Dumas.

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In a video shared to social media, Sotheby’s curator Dr. Lucia Savi explains the history and cultural impact of this iconic piece of fashion.

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“This is the bag. The mother fashion icon,” she said, before recounting how the legendary design came to be.

“Jane Birkin was on a flight. She was carrying a basket,” Savi explained. “The man sitting next to her said, ‘You know, you should really have a better bag.’ And it was none other than Dumas of the Hermès family.”

Birkin—and her bag—went on to achieve icon status. The original Birkin is now up for sale for the first time in 25 years at Sotheby’s Paris. It’s expected to surpass the most expensive bag ever sold at auction, which fetched $500,000.

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Jane Birkin, who died in 2023, donated the original purse in 1993 to a French AIDS charity. The Birkin was purchased again in 2000 by a Paris-based designer and collector.

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Fans were quick to speculate as to which celebrities might bid on Jane Birkin's original bag. The top contenders include Kim Kardashian and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' new wife, Lauren Sanchez.

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Original Hermès Birkin Bag Just Went Up for Sale and It's Expected to Make History: ‘Mother of All It Bags’ first appeared on Parade on Jul 10, 2025

This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 10, 2025, where it first appeared.