Who is Jane Birkin? The woman who inspired the famous Hermès bags

Fashion history was made in 1983, when coincidence turned into inspiration. On a flight from Paris to London, actress and singer Jane Birkin was seated next to Hermès chief executive Jean-Louis Dumas.

Dumas was intrigued by the artist’s choice of bag—a straw basket. While trying to stow the oddly shaped carry-on in the overhead compartment, the contents of Birkin’s bag spilled out. The two struck up a conversation, and she explained that she hadn’t been able to find a leather bag that worked well for a weekend getaway. From that interaction, the Birkin bag was born, with the first design gifted to the muse who inspired it.

Jane Birkin passed away in 2023, and this week, the very bag she used for years sold at auction for $10 million. Though she was seen with the bag in the years following the gift from Hermès, she eventually opted for a simpler one, explaining that it allowed her to carry too much around.

Nevertheless, the prized item attracted many interested buyers, as the Hermès bag has become one of the most sought-after purses in the designer bag market. Depending on the Birkin, the price tag can range from $10,000 to $500,000.

Jane took on Hermès over the inhumane treatment of animals used to manufacture some of the Birkin collection

The relationship with Hermès was not without tension over the years. A little over thirty years after Birkin and Dumas’ chance encounter, Jane penned a letter to Hermès—published in 2015—requesting that her name be removed from the crocodile-skin Birkin. She voiced her disapproval of the use of crocodile leather sourced through ethically questionable practices and asked that it be discontinued “until better practices in line with international norms can be put in place.”

Birkin had been influenced by Joaquin Phoenix’s Mercy For Animals petition after seeing a video published by PETA, which showed the violent practice of skinning living reptiles to create leather.

A few months later, Hermès announced that the company and the actress had reached an agreement to keep her name on the bag, citing improvements in ethical practices in the manufacturing process.

Jane Birkin: A short biography

Jane Mallory Birkin was born on December 14, 1946, in London.

Though she appeared in a few films in the mid-1960s, Jane Birkin’s acting career truly took off after meeting Serge Gainsbourg—whom she later married—on the set of Slogan. The couple collaborated on both music and film, which brought her to France, where she rose to fame.

At the 1985 Orléans Film Festival, Birkin received the award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Katherine Mansfield in Leave All Fair.

In addition to her artistic career, Birkin was an outspoken activist who used her platform to champion progressive causes. In the decade before her death, she sharply criticized shifts in French immigration policy and was frequently seen marching in Paris to defend the rights of asylum seekers and undocumented migrants.

Alongside her advocacy for animal rights, Birkin was deeply concerned about environmental issues and the lack of global action on the climate crisis. In 2018, she was one of over 200 signatories—primarily artists and scientists—of a letter published in Le Monde, urging world leaders to “firmly and immediately” take the necessary steps to prevent the “collapse of biodiversity” in ecosystems around the globe.

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