Oh, Jane, Jane, could you be any more awesome? It's stories like these that slip into context the offensive flashy vulgarity of like likes of the Hermes hungry Posh, and dare we say, the K*rd*sh**ns.

Original chanteuse, lover of Serge, and all-round boho philanthrope, Jane Birkin donated her (and THE) original Hermes Birkin for auction on eBay to raise money for the Japan crisis and it's sold for over an eye-watering £100,000. As one would expect from such a well aged and travelled receptacle, her Hermes namesake bag came fully be-trinketed with worry beads and stickers.                     

For the (surely) very few that don't know the story by now, Birkin was mouthing off on a 1984 flight about not being able to find the right leather weekend bag. Fate would have it, she happened to be seated next to Hermes' Jean-Louis Dumas who set about creating one for her.

“It’s very nice that everyone’s got one or wants one,” say Birkin. “I keep saying to Hermès to make it out of plastic or, even more fun, make it out of cardboard. Then it wouldn’t be so heavy.” Or unaffordable - thus undemocratic. But, then, that's everything Hermes (and Posh) wouldn't want.

Posted on April 21, 2011 at 4:41:37 by The Real Runway