ISLAMABAD – July 10, 2025: Thought living minimally, surviving on your 50th bowl of instant noodles, and grinding through 18-hour workdays would help you settle down by 35? Well, think again!
Brace yourselves for some serious envy! The artificially scare, outrageously overpriced Birkin bag has been both reviled and revered across social circles for decades. Remember that iconic “Sex and the City” scene where Samantha cradles a Birkin bag within her hands like it’s a priceless treasure? Yeah, that’s the vibe!
In 2016, an original Birkin bag–reportedly made for the actress Jane Birkin herself–sold at the Sotheby’s Paris sold for a vein-popping price of $380,000.
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Nearly a decade later, the OG bag would then go on to sell for a stroke-inducing price of $10.04 million! The original Birkin bag was auctioned off again at Sotheby’s Paris on Thursday.
Before you grab your pitchfork, let’s take a step back! What began as a practical, if somewhat posh, handbag in the 1980s has morphed into a symbol of luxury excess and artificial scarcity.
The story goes that Jane Birkin met an Hermes executive on a flight and lamented the lack of fashionable, practical bags for mothers. Inspired, the executive designed a spacious handbag with compartments for everything a busy mom might need.
What started as a sensible solution quickly became a status symbol. With waiting lists rumoured to stretch up to five years and price starting around $12,000 to $15,000, the Birkin bag turned practicality into high-stakes game of exclusivity and corporate greed.
The original bag, engraved with Jane Birkin’s initials, reportedly disappeared into the hands of an anonymous buyer from the Land of the Rising Sun.
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Sotheby’s and other auction houses regularly see luxury items fetch eye-watering sums. These sales are often dressed up with noble causes, giving the ultra-rich a way to justify their extravagant splurges.
Much like fine art, these fashion relics become “hollow altars to vanity” where price tags soar as high as the egos behind them.
So, if you are still clutching your ramen cup, just remember: while you can barely afford to eat and rent a one-bedroom, some bags are worth the price of an island!
