In case the rich weren’t terrible enough this year, a throng of them gathered to bid astronomical sums on a handbag, which could have *checks notes* gone to literally anything else that would improve the wealth gap or provide for the basic needs of others. The formerly stickered and scuffed bag was sold by Sotheby’s this week for $10.1 million (€8.6 million, CAD$13.8 million, £7.48 million, or R$56.17 million).
Legend goes, Jane Birkin was seated next to the artistic director of Hermès, John-Louis Dumas, on a flight to Paris in 1981, when Jane’s belongings scattered out of her favored bag — a wicker basket. She mentioned her frustration that she couldn’t find a purse large enough to carry all of her baby things. The baby? Charlotte Gainsbourg. Dumas quickly sketched a design, “with a dedicated space for her baby’s bottles!” per Hermès. A prototype of the bag was made, and given to Birkin for free. In 1985, Hermès asked Birkin to name the silhouette after her.
Jane had been gifted other bags by Hermès, but loved her OG, taking it with her nearly everywhere, decorating it with political stickers, beads, and ribbons, and absolutely stuffing it to filth. In her view, bags are meant to be practical.
The Birkin bag is actually, more or less, a diaper bag. More on the origin story:
👜 The first-ever #Birkin handbag sold for €8.58 million at a 🇫🇷 #Sothebys auction in #Paris on Thursday, smashing all previous handbag price records.
Designed by Hermes for Jane Birkin, it was bought by a private collector in 🇯🇵 #Japan pic.twitter.com/o2wjT2MLag
— FRANCE 24 English (@France24_en) July 11, 2025
Who bought it?
Allegedly, the Anonymous buyer is a private collector in Japan.
Who was the losing bidder whose corpse we should also feast on?
It’s rumored the losing bidder was Lauren fucking Sánchez Bezos.
Allegedly, Lauren Sánchez was the losing bidder on Jane Birkin’s original Hermès Birkin bag, which sold for $10.1 million at auction yesterday, per the Robb Report. pic.twitter.com/zDCX9lszSJ
— Louis Pisano (@LouisPisano) July 11, 2025
Here’s a video of the seller post-sale:
This is how you talk after you’ve just sold your Birkin handbag—the first ever made—at auction for 7 million Euros…
Sold yesterday in Paris.
Winning bidder from Japan, not named.
Paid €8.6 million including fees.
One guy came with €2.2m budget and was so pained. pic.twitter.com/mrQw1TsrRA
— Tolu Ogunlesi, MON (@toluogunlesi) July 11, 2025
The sale broke multiple records. In terms of fashion items sold, this bag comes in second under Judy Garland’s Ruby Red Slippers from 1939’s The Wizard Oz — which sold on Dec. 7, 2024 in Dallas for an incredible $32.5 million. Jane Birkin’s prototype is the most valuable handbag ever sold at auction, a title previously held by Hermès’ White Himalaya Niloticus Crocodile Diamond Retourne Kelly 28, sold at $513,040 in 2021, meaning we are not eating the rich fast enough.
Sources Tolu Ogunlesi Twitter | Sotheby’s Twitter | Robb Report | France24 | People
ONTD, what’s your philosophy on purses? Do you make investments in high-quality or trash cans?
What’s your everyday bag?
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