Jane Birkin, renowned actress, and inspiration for one of the most famous handbags in the world, the iconic Birkin bag, passed away at 76 years old in Paris last Sunday.
Jane Birkin’s life was full of happy accidents. She was born Jane Mallory Birkin in 1946 to a famous French actress and a decorated English military man. She sought to follow in her mother’s footsteps as an actress. It was in France that she landed her first significant role, without even knowing a word of French.
It was in her first film that she met French musician Serge Gainsbourg. They fell in love and Gainsbourg ended up as Jane’s lifelong partner. But after their movie ended, Jane didn’t have an excuse to stay in France anymore, although she wanted to. Luckily, she had the happy accident of meeting director, Jacques Deray, who gave her a role in his film and the excuse to live in France for the rest of her days.
But aside from being a famous actress and singer herself, Jane Birkin’s fame around the world was largely due to another happy circumstance. During the early days of her career, Jane was known to ditch regular handbags for woven baskets because she couldn’t find a handbag that could fit all the things she need.
She was on a flight in 1984 when she got bumped to first class. While she was putting away her basket in the overhead compartment, the lid fell off and all the contents spilled to the floor. She complained to her seatmate that Hermes didn’t have a bag that could carry all her knickknacks. Little did she know that the man she was ranting about was Jean-Louis Dumas, the head designer of Hermes at the time.
Dumas asked her what she thought a handbag should look like. So Jane picked up an airplane sick bag and started to design a purse that had pockets on the inside and lots of space for her things. Dumas took the sketch and told Jane that they will contact her about it.
A few months pass and Jane was invited to Hermes to check out the rudimentary design of the bag she drew. She was gladly surprised when Dumas asked her if they could name the bag after her. That is the story of how the Birkin bag came to be.
Over the years, it has become so well known as a status symbol that you can only get a Birkin bag after you’ve purchased a certain amount of products from Hermes. It is also the record holder for the most expensive bag ever sold, at half a million dollars.
It is interesting that a chance encounter with Jane had snowballed into the most recognizable accessory on the planet. However, Jane herself doesn’t treat the Birkin bag as a status symbol. For her, it is just a bag that holds all her things.
In an interview, Jane showed her Birkin bag and said she doesn’t own more than one at a time. Her bag is also full of dangling accessories. At the end of her life, Jane’s authenticity shone through. She led a great life, but inside, she was just a happy girl with a bag that holds all her things and makes jingling sounds from all the accessories she hangs on.