Jane Birkin

Hermès’ status as one of the most coveted luxury handbags in the world continues to persevere. Slingo has looked into data from Google search volume and Instagram, which revealed the Hermès Birkin ranks among the most iconic designer bags in the world, with average monthly searches between 2020 and 2023 clocking in at 159,208.

Alexandra Lapp wears an Hermès Birkin in 2020 in Dusseldorf, Germany.

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In 2020, searches for the famed luxury brand were close to 149,000, but in 2023 they increased 19 percent to 159,208.

Despite the Birkin’s sizable price tag, its desirability hasn’t waned. Even the most affordable Birkin will have a price tag of at least $10,000. Some rarer Birkins made from rare materials can fetch six-figure price tags. The diamond Himalayan Birkin 30, made from crocodile skin and encrusted with real diamonds, sold for $450,000 in 2022.

Jane Birkin attends the “Jane Birkin sings Serge Gainsbourg Via Japan” press conference at L’Institut Franco-Japonais de Tokyo on March 26, 2013, in Tokyo.

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Part of the interest in the Birkin is its exclusivity. They can’t be purchased directly off the shelves from an Hermès boutique. Instead, sales associates must offer clients the opportunity to buy one, often after they have built up a purchase history with the brand. Boutiques are allowed to order a limited number of bags twice per year.

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This month, searches for the Birkin spiked after the passing of Jane Birkin, whom the bag is named after. Jane Birkin, who was a French actress and singer, died Sunday at age 76.

Clocking in behind the Birkin for the second most iconic designer bag is the Louis Vuitton Neverfull with average monthly searches of 126,729. In 2020, the bag had 114,833 average monthly searches, and while the search increase may seem small, after being introduced in 2007 as a seasonal beach bag, the model has become a year-round staple among Louis Vuitton’s offerings

Gucci’s Marmont bag appeared at number three on the list. Since its debut in 2016, Gucci’s portfolio of Marmont bags has grown exponentially. With 82,375 average monthly searches over the last three years, the bag is now a staple for the brand.

PARIS — PETA is putting the pressure on Hermès International once again to retire the crocodile-skin Birkin bag and commit to a corporate policy against the use of exotic skins.
Following the death of actress and singer Jane Birkin on Sunday, the animal rights group is asking the French luxury house to retire the crocodile skin versions of her namesake handbags “so that no more wildlife is killed in her name.”

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The group is also asking that Hermès commit to wider company agreement against using exotic skins.

“Will Hermès continue to hark back to the past, treating these magnificent and highly intelligent exotic animals as nothing more than living, breathing ‘fabric,’ or will you embrace positive change and make a commitment to continue Ms. Birkin’s legacy in a manner that respects the natural world and all who live in it by using the finest cruelty-free materials to create a modern Birkin and other accessories? We hope you will choose the latter,” said PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk.

PETA added that the move would be to “honor her legacy,” it said in a statement.

In July 2015, Birkin herself had asked the luxury house to remove her name from the crocodile skin handbags after watching an expose film of a crocodile farm that showed animals being skinned and sawed open while alive, and other methods used to harvest the skins.

“Alerted to the cruel practices reserved for crocodiles during their killing for the production of Hermès bags carrying my name, as a signatory of Joaquin Phoenix’s ‘Mercy for Animals’ petitions protesting all the bad treatment of animals, I have asked the Maison Hermès to rename the Birkin Croco until best practices responding to international norms can be put in place for the bag’s fabrication,” she said at the time.

The following September, Hermès said it had reached an agreement with Birkin to continue to use her name on all versions of the bag, including crocodile, and said the practices shown in the video were an isolated incident. It vowed to investigate the farm in question.

“Jane Birkin has expressed her concerns regarding practices for slaughtering crocodiles,” Hermès said at the time. “Her comments do not in any way influence the friendship and confidence that we have shared for many years. Hermès respects and shares her emotions and was also shocked by the images recently broadcast.”

In calling for a corporate commitment to discontinue the use of crocodile-skin, the organization noted that other luxury houses — including Burberry, Chanel, Mulberry, Victoria Beckham, Karl Lagerfeld, Paul Smith and Stella McCartney — have banned exotic skins from their collections. Few of those brands use exotic skins in any significant way, however.

Hermès is said to have paid about $40,000 in royalties to Birkin annually in exchange for the use of her name. She consistently donated this money to various charities.

Representatives for Hermès did not respond to a request for comment.

Jane Birkin, singer, actress and namesake of Hermès famous handbag, died in Paris Sunday. She was 76 years old.
Following a stroke in September 2021, Birkin canceled her concerts scheduled for later that year. With ongoing health concerns, she canceled additional concerts in March 2022, and her return scheduled for May was also postponed. She was found at her home by a caregiver Sunday morning, AFP reported.

The London-born Birkin rose to fame in the late ’60s after appearing in Jack Smight’s “Kaleidoscope,” opposite Warren Beatty, and Michelangelo Antonioni’s provocative film “Blow-Up,” in 1966.

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Her then-scandalous duet “Je T’aime…Moi Non Plus” with French crooner Serge Gainsbourg further propelled her fame after it was banned by the BBC, and condemned by the Vatican for its sexual heavy breathing and moans.

She went on to appear in more than 60 films, including “La Piscine,” “The Pleasure Pit,” “Death on the Nile,” and Agnès’ Varda’s “One Hundred and One Nights.” She was nominated for three César Awards during her career, and directed her own film, “Boxes,” which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007.

In 2004, Birkin was awarded the French Chevalier of the National Order of Merit. Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said her album “Arabesques” was a work of “cultural diplomacy,” which had a more political bent. She performed in both Israel and Palestine at the time.

The British Birkin had married James Bond composer John Barry at the age of 17. The two had a daughter, Kate, and separated three years later.

She met Gainsbourg on the set of a film and moved to France. The two had a daughter, Charlotte, who became a successful actress and filmmaker.

Charlotte Gainsbourg recently recounted their relationship in the film “Jane by Charlotte,” which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2021. The film started as a quest to document her mother’s life and history, and over the course of five years turned into a very personal look at their mother-daughter relationship.

Birkin became known for her personal style, which inspires fashion to this day. She played down her status as a style icon but embraced androgyny. “I’d rather be dressed as a man.…As soon as I’m in boys’ things I feel like I’m 12 again. I’ll go on tour in a white shirt and waistcoat,” she told WWD in 2009.

Her namesake “Birkin bag” was introduced in 1984, after a chance meeting with Hermès then-chief executive officer Jean-Louis Dumas on a flight from Paris to London. Birkin, famous for carrying a wicker basket, spilled the contents of her carry-on and Dumas remarked she should have an Hermès bag, so he designed one that worked to her specifications, with space and pockets.

It became one of the most coveted bags in the world, and is known for wait lists that are nearly as exclusive as the bag itself.

They are popular with the Kardashian-Jenner sisters, who have all carried a version. Victoria Beckham is known to have at least 100 Birkins, while socialite Jamie Chua is believed to have the world’s largest collection with more than 200.

The bags range between $15,000 for the most standard version to over $100,000 for bags with exotic skins.

In 2014, an extremely rare Himalayan Nilo crocodile Birkin bag sold at auction for $185,000. A year later Birkin demanded Hermès remove her name from its Birkin Croco bag after learning of “cruel practices” showcased in a PETA video with the animals being skinned and sawed open alive.

Hermès said the farm in question had been an isolated irregularity and the company had come to an agreement with Birkin. It continued to use her name, and the bags continued to be successful.

Hermes opened a new factory is Saint Junien, France, in June to increase production of the ever-popular bags.  

Birkin received five bags from Hermès and auctioned them off over the years for good causes, as well as worked with Hermès to donate directly to charities.

“I got Hermès to fork out for my charities once I saw the fortune they were making. A certain amount of money every year goes straight to my charity and it will continue to after my death. This year I was able to [use some of that money] to go to Japan for a benefit concert after the earthquake. We use some of the money to feed the poor people who can’t afford to eat in France. I sold one of my Birkin bags for $163,000 to help the Japanese Red Cross. So that rather trivial piece of heavy luggage has done a lot of good in the world,” she told WWD in 2011.

Birkin is survived by daughters Charlotte Gainsbourg and Lou Doillon. Daughter Kate Barry passed away in 2013.