Overview

• The Birkin bag originated in 1984 when Hermès CEO Jean-Louis Dumas sketched a design for Jane Birkin on a flight after she noted the need for a more functional tote.
• Crafted in jet-black leather with gilded brass hardware, the saddle-style prototype features a unique hybrid size and non-detachable shoulder strap engraved with Birkin’s initials.
• Birkin sold the original in 1994 to support AIDS research, and it later entered the collection of a private owner known as Catherine B.
• Sotheby’s has exhibited the bag in New York through June 12 before transporting it to Paris for the Fashion Icons sale.
• Sotheby’s has not disclosed a reserve price, with online bidding set to open June 26 and close at the live auction on July 10.