The Japan Times - Another original Hermes Birkin bag sells for $2.86 mn

Hermes first created the design for the British singer and actress in 1984 and it has gone on to become a modern and highly prized classic, sought by fashionistas the world over.

The first prototype was sold for 8.58 million euros ($10 million) at a Sotheby's auction in Paris in July, smashing previous price records for a handbag.

The one sold on Friday was a "Birkin Voyageur", which was gifted to the former wife of French singing legend Serge Gainsbourg in 2003.

The final sale price was around six times times higher than the estimated price range of $230,000-$430,000 given before the sale.

"Jane Birkin's handbag legacy continues to captivate collectors," Sotheby's said in a statement sent to AFP, adding that bidding took place over 11 minutes between six collectors.

The new owner was a phone buyer and has not been identified.

The handbag was one of four owned by the late celebrity, who used to sell them to raise money for charitable causes.

It has a handwritten inscription in French inside from Birkin that reads: "My Birkin bag, my globetrotting companion."

A third Hermes bag owned by Birkin is set to go under the hammer on December 15 at the Hotel Drouot auction house in Paris.

It was entrusted by the late star to her friend and biographer Gabrielle Crawford, who is selling it to help fund the future Jane Birkin Foundation, Drouot said in a statement.

Produced in very limited numbers, the modern Birkin bag manufactured by Hermes has maintained an aura of exclusivity and is beloved by celebrities such as the Kardashians, Jennifer Lopez and Victoria Beckham.

The most expensive fashion item ever sold at auction was a pair of ruby red slippers worn by actor Judy Garland from The Wizard of Oz in 1939, which sold for $32.5 million in 2024 in Dallas, Texas, according to Sotheby's.

M.Saito--JT