The original Birkin bag, which is considered by some to be the most desirable fashion accessory in history, was purchased for $8,6 million, making it the most expensive handbag ever sold at auction.
The black leather bag was made for singer Jane Birkin in 1985 after her belongings spilled while she was sitting on a plane next to the director of luxury fashion house Hermès (Hermes).
The singer wondered why they don't make bigger bags.
The director of Hermes then took one of the paper bags that are distributed on flights and sketched the look of a new, more practical, but still very desirable bag.
This sketch was sold on July 10 to a private collector from Japan at an auction at Sotheby's in Paris, far surpassing the previous record amount of 439.000 euros.
The auction house said "nine determined collectors" competed during the exciting ten-minute bidding.
Morgan Halimi, global director of handbags and fashion at Sotheby's, said the price achieved was "an indication of the power of the legend and its ability to ignite passion and desire among collectors seeking exceptional objects of unique provenance."
"The Birkin prototype is just that, the beginning of an extraordinary story that gave us a modern icon, the Birkin bag, the most desirable in the world," she added.
After creating a bag for the Anglo-French singer and actress, Hermès began its commercial production, and the bag remains one of the most exclusive status symbols in the fashion world.
Some cost tens of thousands of dollars and there are waiting lists for them.
Among the celebrities who wear them are model Kate Moss, designer Victoria Beckham, and singer and actress Jennifer Lopez.
The original bag has several unique features, such as Birkin's initials on the front flap, nail clippers that she kept attached to her belt, and marks where she had stuck stickers for causes she supported, such as Doctors of the World and UNICEF.
Birkin, who died in 2023 at the age of 76, owned the bag for a decade and auctioned it off to raise funds for AIDS treatment in 1994.
The bag was later purchased by Catherine Benier, the owner of a luxury boutique in Paris, and was in her possession for 25 years before she sold it on July 10, 2025.
The auction house said the previous record for the price of a single bag was set in 2021 for a model White Himalaya Niloticus Crocodile Diamond Retourne Kelly 28.
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