Jane Birkin's Birkin Goes on Sale at Sotheby's

Fashion's holy grail will be on view in New York June 6-10, and sold at auction in Paris on July 10. Plus: a basic Tom Ford white t-shirt on sale 50% off.

Jun 05, 2025

A woman in a blue sweatshirt, jeans and white shoes sits on a chair. Between her legs is a black bag covered in stickers. — Jane Birkin, photo courtesy Sotheby’s.

Hello everyone. Thank you for following the news with me this week, and thank you to my paid subscribers who keep this newsletter going. If you want to support Style Beat, consider becoming a paid subscriber for $45/year or $5/month.

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Before I get to today’s feature, I wanted to share with you some fascinating reads for the weekend. And in the shopping roundup, don’t miss checking out the Tom Ford basic white t-shirt that’s 50% off.

Read: People With Parents With Money (New York Magazine)
I devoured this story. Ever wonder how New Yorkers afford to buy a home in Manhattan, and pay $100,000 in private school tuition for their kids? A lot of them work in finance, and many of them get a down payment from generational wealth. A kindergartener got a tour of a billionaire’s full-floor apartment and said he “admired the millwork”. I’ve been enjoying reading New York Mag a lot lately.
Read: Dry Clean Only (Style Toast)
I love Brooke’s style edits. Just a crisp rotation of distilled masculine style.
Guys: Trade in your jeans for “summer fatigue pants” (Wall Street Journal)
I’m writing a newsletter about this next week. But summer is a good time to lose the jeans in place of Palm Beach pants.
See: Stockholm, The New Tokyo of Street Style (Vogue)
See: I was scrolling through a MAJOR archives and collections 22-23 Alaïa private sale today. The designs on sale are from both Pieter Mulier and Azzedine himself. I wanted to share this find for you. It’s from the archives. Something about it reads ‘Old World Romance’.
Alaïa sleeveless silk dress from the archives, never worn. Size FR 38. On sale for 490 EUR, retails for 3,680 EUR. Available to ship in France.

WCME: The Original Birkin Goes on Sale at Auction

What Caught My Eye is a daily column about internet culture, people you should know about, business, shopping, and fashion.

A black bag is seen with a leather strap hanging down in front of it. — **Photo courtesy, Sotheby’s.**

What is the story behind the bag?

It was 1984. The legend goes Jane Birkin, then an icon of French cinema, was on an Air France flight from London to Paris and had been upgraded to first class. She was carrying with her a raffia wicker basket that was in poor shape. As she boarded the plane, the contents of the bag started to spill out. I know this is possible because it has already happened to me at security check on an international flight—and it was mortifying. Wallet, keys, business cards, diapers, cigarettes, glasses were falling out.

She was seated next to Jean-Louis Dumas, then CEO of Hermès. The two got to talking that she needed a bag to carry all her belongings. They began to sketch out an idea on an airsickness bag, and ta-da! The Birkin was born. The one on sale is the original prototype.

What makes a Birkin special?

Two factors have contributed to the Birkin’s success: rarity and craftmanship. In order to even buy a Birkin, you have to be invited to purchase it. The bag is usually only offered to long-term clients who have already spent a large sum with the brand. Or in retail terms, you have to be a VIC. A Very Important Client.

Once you get the bag, Hermès will repair and restore it over time. It truly does last forever if you take good care of it.

The New York Times writes, Jane Birkin was not precious about her Birkins. “She covered some in stickers for political causes and frequently hung trinkets off them”, features of her style which have recently become a full-blown trend.

What about the Sotheby’s Sale?

The current owner of this Original Prototype is Catherine Benier, who purchased the bag at auction in 2000. Price tag estimations remain secretive, but as this is what amounts to fashion’s f*cking holy grail, Birkin-zero, the how it all started of bags, expect it to reach miles north of $160,000. Why this number? The last Jane Birkin-owned Birkin sold at this price in 2021. So it’s a starting estimate.

Can I see the bag before purchasing it?

Yes! It will be on display at Sotheby’s New York from June 6-10. Sotheby’s will then fly the bag back to Paris and sell it on July 10. I will try to go to the auction so I can report on it from the sales floor. See you there.