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Jane Birkin’s original Hermès handbag to be sold at auction in Paris

The bag was made for the British-born singer and actor after a chance encounter with the head of the French luxury goods firm

The prototype model of the iconic Hermès bag, which Birkin used for nine years, is expected to fetch a six-figure sum at auction next month. Well-used and still bearing traces of the stickers Birkin irreverently stuck on the smooth black leather, the bag comes complete with the nail clippers she attached inside. In a 2018 interview with CBS, Birkin, who died in July 2023, said: “I found myself next door to a very polite gentleman and I had my agenda as usual banged full of bits of paper and everything and the whole thing fell to the ground.

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