For close to 19 decades, Hermès remains to be the pinnacle of ultimate luxury. With their experience and craftsmanship that spans almost two centuries, this fashion house has cemented their spot at the top of the fashion food-chain, with their lasting versatility and timeless designs. Hermès carries themselves on the driving factor that many of their luxury items are extremely difficult to attain, which adds a heightened demand to many of their products. 

Hermès Birking Bag

A pivotal moment for Hermès’ fame came in 1894, when CEO at the time Jean Louis-Dumas was seated next to English-French actress and singer Jane Birkin. Throughout the duration of their flight the pair got into casual conversation, in which Birkin expressed her complaints that many leather handbags were impractical as well as simultaneously being stylish. Leading to her sketching out her idea on an air sickness bag, further becoming Dumas’s testament to create a bag in her honour. Neither of them know that a simple conversation on a plane could lead to the massive impact that Birkin bags have had on the fashion industry. They are notably one of the most sought after purses in the world, and it is all thanks to one woman exclaiming that she could not find a practical bag for a mother back in 1984 that the world has been graced with such luxury excellence. 

Jane Birkin Photographed with her Birkin Bag

Hermès maintains its scarcity and high demand year after year, boasting an investment price of at least $13,500 USD for their basic Togo leather Birkin Bag. Preloved purses still carry a golden price tag, ranging from $20,000USD to $35,000 USD, and that's just scratching the surface. Features of these coveted bags help determine the investment required; size of the bag, and the material play their role in the rarity- exotic skins such as crocodile costing $250,000 USD, to well over $450,000. Attributes such as colour also determine the scarcity of the bag. The most sought after Birkin Bag hues are timeless, adding a Noir, Gold, and Craie to your collection is a feat not many attain.

The "pre-spend" relationship with clientele plays a big factor. Exclusivity is easy when a brand selects who they wish to create a meaningful relationship with. Hermes cleverly hand-picks potential Birkin Bag clientele based on unspoken rules surrounding how much a client has historically spent on the brand, or which pieces have been purchased. Reaching this means you may get offered the chance to purchase a coveted bag. This offer can come  within months, or six years of each other.

The luxury fashion house has broken into mainstream fashion for top clients, and has also been featured in many forms of social media over the years. Following the reunion of the reality show The Traitors, (spoiler alert) winner and Love Island alumni Rob Rausch gifted his runner up and fellow competitor Maura Higgins a Burgundy Birkin 30 bag as an apology for betraying her amidst the show's finale. A Birkin Bag as an ecstatically accepted apology? Yes please. All is forgiven when gifting someone one of these beauties.  So, influential? Undeniably.

Rob Rausch and Maura Higgins Photographed with an Hermès Birking Bag