The Original Birkin—yes, the first-ever Birkin, sketched by Hermès CEO Jean-Louis Dumas mid-flight—landed under the hammer at Sotheby’s on July 10, 2025, during their ultra-chic Fashion Icons sale in Paris.
Legend has it: on a 1984 flight, Jane Birkin’s wicker basket exploded all over Dumas’s lap—style meets storytelling. “She sketched her dream bag on a sick-bag,” Vogue once reported, and voilà—the prototype was born. Born out of practicality, destined for legend.
Sotheby’s has teased the seven quirky traits that make this Birkin the real OG:
- Built-in shoulder strap (never seen again on later Birkins)
- Hybrid sizing: the depth of a 40, the width, and height of a 35
- Gilded brass hardware, replaced later by plated versions
- Closed metal rings, nodding to the sac HAC roots
- Tiny bottom studs
- Vintage Éclair zipper, Hermès now uses Riri
- The clincher: “J.B.” stamped on the flap—initials worth more than gold
Bonus cheek: a nail clipper tacked onto the interior strap—because why not?
Originally Birkin’s daily companion for nine years, the bag was privately donated by Jane and first auctioned in 1994 to aid French AIDS charities. In 2000, collector Catherine Benier acquired it, and it has since toured the greatest museums—MoMA in New York, the V&A in London—and recently, Sotheby’s in New York and Hong Kong.
No public estimate was given for July 10, because they can’t. This is the unicorn of handbags: Sotheby’s has called it “a true unicorn in the world of fashion,” likening its aura to Princess Diana’s Black Sheep Sweater and Freddie Mercury’s crown. With past Himalaya Birkins fetching over $500K, this prototype may rewrite the records. We can’t wait to follow up and see what this sold for and who claimed this ultimate fashion heirloom.
This isn’t just a Birkin. It’s the Birkin. Worn by Jane herself, adorned with initials and activism stickers, stitched into fashion DNA by necessity and daring. A gilded, stickered slice of history that carried her world.
