Last month, a rare Hermès bag has set a new record for the most expensive handbag ever sold at auction – going for HK$1.72 million (US$221,846; £146,000; RM817,225). The luxury crocodile skin 2014 Hermes Birkin bag, in fuchsia, features 18 karat gold detailing encrusted in real diamonds.

Soon, the rich and famous, including shopaholic such as the wife of Malaysian prime minister – Rosmah Mansor – may have a good excuse for a new round of handbag shopping again. Reason – Hermes’ iconic Birkin Bag – which costs at least around US$10,000 a pop – may not have its name for much longer.

 

Jane Birkin, the English actress and namesake for the famed Hermès Birkin bag, has asked the French luxury goods maker to remove her iconic name from the popular handbag. The handbag was named after Jane Birkin after she met Hermès chairman Jean-Louis Dumas on an airplane in 1984, and complained of not having a good leather weekender.

Apparently, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) published a graphic video that it said showed crocodiles and alligators being bred and killed for their skins, which were then allegedly sold to Hermes-owned tanneries. PETA claims it takes two to three crocodiles to make one Birkin bag.

The report alleges that the alligators and crocodiles whose skins go into the bags live out their short lives in inhumane conditions. PETA claims the scaly beasts wriggle in agony for hours after their attempted slaughter. Clearly, British singer Jane Birkin doesn’t want such practices associated with her name.

In other words, for a celebrity to own 10 of such bags, 20-30 crocodiles have to be sacrificed. Since the video was made public, more than 68,000 people have signed PETA’s petition calling on Hermes to “stop buying and selling crocodile- and alligator-skin accessories immediately.”

However, Hermes said the crocodile skins it sourced from a Texas farm in the video were not used for Birkin bags and stressed that it did not own that farm. The luxury brand also said that an investigation was being conducted into the farm’s practices and added that “any breach of rules will be rectified and sanctioned.”

Interestingly, 65-year-old Jane revealed in 2012 that she only had one of her namesake bag, which she customised with tons of stickers to disguise it from being a “Birkin bag”. She complained that the Birkin bag was “bloody heavy”. That’s a mind-boggling revelation, considering Kim Kardashian has so many that she uses one as a gym bag.

 

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July 29th, 2015 by financetwitter

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