An authentic Birkin bag is the dream of every fan of fashion trends; this bag is one of the most famous and expensive fashion accessories. A very limited number of celebrities receive these coveted bags directly from the Hermes company. The lists of ladies waiting for this honor are currently closed and are not replenished.
A story of how Hermes Birkin appeared
A Birkin bag is an exclusive handmade bag produced by one master, who uses high quality materials to create this masterpiece from beginning to end. Exclusivity of these handbags and the desire to possess them give rise to countless numbers of fake handbags. Even if the price of these bags does not seem available at first sight, such fakes seem to cost not more than a penny compared to the actual cost of the original Birkin handbag.
First of all, we should understand that the real Birkin bag cannot cost little money (even if you are assured of its complete authenticity), the cost of most originals are up to ten thousand dollars. Even battered and sold from hand, the real Birkin handbag has the price of seven thousand dollars and more.
This bag has been named after famous actress Jane Birkin, and at the moment when Jane expressed her dissatisfaction with her old bag, she had no idea she would be the co-author of one of the most famous women’s accessories.
On that day, Jane Birkin was flying to London and there was a strange man next to her on the plane. Birkin says she does not remember exactly what kind of a handbag she had with her, but it was terribly uncomfortable, and almost all of its contents fell outside. Having noticed the suffering of the actress, her neighbor remarked that it would be nice to have a handbag with pockets, and the irritated actress replied if there was a Hermes handbag like that, she would willingly buy it. This remark was followed by a surprising answer that that was Hermes himself next to her, and he would make a handbag with pockets for the actress. The stranger in the nearby chair appeared to be executive officer Jean-Louis Dumas, and soon he and Jane Birkin started to develop a joint design of the handbag that would later become the legendary one. When the actress was going to purchase the first bag that was the result of their joint creativity with Dumas, the man offered her to take the bag for free and asked the lady’s permission to name the bag in her honor. Jane Birkin thought it was an honor and agreed.
Since then, many years have passed, and the Birkin bag has become an ever fashionable trend. Jane Birkin annually receives thirty thousand pounds from the Hermes company and invests them in a variety of charitable projects. Actress and singer Jane Birkin has always chosen bags named after her since then, though sometimes she complains that her bag is somewhat heavy.
How to distinguish the original Birkin bag from a fake
A Birkin bag is perhaps one of the most popular designs for numerous imitations and so-called replicas, or fakes to put it more simply. Certainly, an authentic Birkin is not something everyone can afford. However, a handbag bought for a hundred or even a thousand dollars will not put you on a par with the owners of the Birkin originals.
It is an individual matter to buy or not to buy an imitation of the legendary bags, but if you value quality and the prestige of the brand is really important to you, consider buying a vintage Birkin bag.
So, what should you look at when buying a Birkin bag?
- You will never see a cardboard label on a real Birkin bag. If you see a piece of paper or a cardboard label, you should know you deal with a fake.
- Original Birkin bags always come with a lock and a key, decorated with fine engraving. This engraving is recessed into the surface. Below, on the clasp there should be a clearly seen Hermes inscription. In some models of vintage Hermes handbags, the inscription can also be found on the reverse side of the bag. The accessories of original Birkin bags are cast from metal, while hollow elements are a clear sign of a fake.
- Hermes bags are marked by an original relief marking; inside a real Birkin bag, you will never see a metal plate with the logo of the company. If there is such, the authors of the fakes do not seem to have studied the features of Birkin bags by Hermes.
- From about mid-2007 to the present day, thin beige fabric with the fir-tree pattern is used for the cloth manufacturing inside the Birkin bags. Earlier, the inner part of a Birkin bag was made of fairly thick cotton flannel, while older representatives of the Birkin bags family even had an inner cover made of beige suede; their design was somewhat different from the modern one. A vintage Birkin bag is a very conventional concept due to its fairly young age (Birkin bags were “born” in 1984); it just cannot belong to the category of vintage items.
- If you buy a used bag, you have no way to verify the authenticity of all the features of your future purchase. Ask the seller to provide you with the detailed images of the bag from different angles. Make sure that the seller does not share with you stolen pictures of a real bag. If the seller gives you the wrong pictures and admits that they display not the bag that you buy, but an “exactly the same one”, think twice. It is quite possible that you may be deceived.
- Carefully inspect all the seams inside and outside the bag, pay special attention to the quality of leather and decorative details. The stitches of an original Birkin handbag are very smooth and dense, and any missing stitch indicates that the bag is not real. All seams in original Birkin bags are processed with the so-called saddle stitch, where two stitches cross each other, forming letter X. Do not forget that the bag that originally costs ten thousand dollars should look ten thousand dollars.
- Pay attention to the shape of the bag. An authentic Birkin bag preserves its shape perfectly well; it is flat on both sides and has no folds and bulges. Fake Birkin bags have an imperfect shape and the material from which they are made is of poor quality.
- Inside an original Birkin bag, there should be the inscription «Hermes Paris, Made in France»; a stamp with the inscription must have clear contours and shape. Counterfeited bags often have a blurred stamp that is either too large or too small.
