Original Birkin smashes records at Paris auction

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  • Original Birkin smashes records at Paris auction

The first-ever Birkin bag designed by French luxury brand Hermes for celebrity Jane Birkin sold for 8.58 million euros at a Sotheby's auction in Paris on Thursday, smashing previous price records for a handbag. The modern design classic, owned by a Paris-based handbag collector, sparked a telephone bidding war up to seven million euros, with the final sale price set at 8.58 million with commission and fees, the Sotheby's website showed.

The final buyer, who eclipsed eight other rivals, was a "private collector from Japan", the auction house added, without giving further details. The previous record price for a handbag at auction was set by a diamond-encrusted crocodile skin Hermes Kelly 28, which fetched $513,000 in 2021 at Christie's in Hong Kong.

The bag is now the second-most expensive fashion item ever sold at auction, Sotheby's said. The record was established by 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.

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