Jane Birkin was more than just an icon in the beauty and fashion industry, but also a trailblazer, singer and inspiration behind the famous Hermès Birkin bag. Before we dive into everything that made Jane Birkin so well known, famous and of course, iconic, we want to express our deepest condolences to Jane’s family and all those she influenced with her work.
Born in a village called Marylebone in the United Kingdom and left for Paris, France in the year 1968 to kick off her acting career. Throughout her career, Birkin was featured in at least 21 films within the French movie industry. In 1984, Hermès introduced the Birkin bag after a year in the making. Read along for everything to know about the journey through Jane Birkin’s life and how the most iconic handbag was created, plus learn about her personal life including how she was featured within films and her singing career.
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Who was Jane Birkin?
Born on December 14th, 1946 in Marylebone, London, Jane Mallory Birkin was a woman who wore many hats through her life. Not only was she a singer and an actress, but she was a huge fashion icon and truly was an It girl. After moving to Paris in 1968, Birkin was featured in many films including The Swimming Pool (1969), Evil Under the Sun (1982), Death on the Nile (1978), I’m Losing My Temper (1974) and many more. Birkin mainly worked in Paris, France for her acting career and appeared in many French films but also had some English films as well for some adaptations she was a part of.
All through the 1960s, Birkin was really admired for her work and she also moved quickly into the music industry. At only 18 years old, Birkin married a British composer John Barry but they had a short lived marriage as it only lasted from 1965-1968. Together they had one daughter named Kate. By the time she was in her early 20s, Birkin filmed the French movie “Slogan” at age 21 which had featured Serge Gainsbourg, a French singer-songwriter. Gainsbourg had many hit songs within the French music industry. Although the two were never officially married they were together for 12 years and in 1971, had a daughter named Charlotte. Birkin also has another daughter named Lou who was born in 1982. Though Charlotte and Lou are the surviving daughters, Kate passed away in 2013.
In 1969, Jane and Serge created their debut studio album together released by Fontana Studios and Chappell Studios in London as well as La Gaieté Studios in Paris. Within this album was genres of pop music, rock, orchestral pop and more. One of their songs even reached number 1 on the UK Singles Chart.
Influence In The Fashion World
Outside of the music industry and the world of film, Jane was very well known in the world of fashion and beauty. In 2017, Vogue France interviewed Birkin in her Paris home as she wore her signature blue jeans. Within the interview, Birkin describes how Gainsbourg listened to her and made her feel like a star in their work. She goes on about her accent and how although she was born in London, she received her French citizenship years after moving to Paris and was quickly accepted by the French. Describing their twenty year age gap, they were able to mold their different lifestyles together with their two children.
“Serge used to say: ‘We are not an immoral couple, we are an amoral couple.‘”
Jane Birkin (Vogue France)
Birkin’s style was very simple yet elegant and chic. She was always looking very put together, but it looked effortless. Birkin carried almost a bohemian style with a classic and relaxed lookbook in her everyday outfits. Jane mentions as well that Jean Shrimpton, the English model featured in Vogue, Vanity Fair, Glamour, Elle and more was her style icon and muse. Birkin said, “I buy things often, but I sleep in them for two weeks, and then they really look quite rough (British Vogue).”
If you want to truly encapsulate that classic and chic Birkin look, you can go for a pair of ballet flats with a mini dress, kitten heels with a woven basket and summer dress, wide leg white jeans with a white linen shirt, blue straight leg jeans and a white shirt, a slip dress with short heels, patchwork jeans with a button up shirt and more. As you can tell by the outfit descriptions of real outfits Jane wore, she went for the simpler the better. It really is all about the energy you carry when wearing clothes. You don’t need thousands to encapsulate that classic It girl energy.
More of Jane’s Personal Life
After Birkin split from Gainsbourg in 1980, she kept on working in her acting and signing career by starring in several films and even recording some solo albums. However, her acting career had come to an end back in 2016 as she starred in her last film which was also nominated for an Academy Award called La femme et le TGV. After reading about Birkin’s life and the journey she took to get to where she was, it was not an easy road.
The Creation of the Iconic Hermès Birkin
Hermès is one of the most well known luxury fashion brands in the world and before the Birkin bag became a thing and was given its name, the brand was already at the top of the fashion world. The story of how Jane Birkin became associated with the brand started in 1983. This truly was an encounter and a moment that would change history forever. Birkin met Jean-Louis Dumas the artisitic director and CEO of Hermès during this time. On a late flight from Paris to London, it is said that Jane was randomly upgraded in the flight where she was seated next to Dumas. The iconic woven wicker straw tote bag that Jane always carried around was being placed in the overhead bin of the airplane when suddenly all the items tipped over and spilled out.
Birkin explained to Dumas that one day if Hermès ever created a tote that was large enough for everyday activities, she would certainly buy it especially because was a mother too. The oversized wicker tote was perfect for her but had no compartments to help organize her items. Dumas got to work and right away started sketching designs on a airplane sickness that essentially turned into one of the most iconic bags in the world.
In 1984, exactly a year later, the luxuryious Birkin bag was released and this answered all of the problems that Jane had. It has all the pockets and interior she needed, especially for being a mother and a woman on the go catching flights between work. When Birkin was gifted the bag, it was retailed for only $2,000 compared to the prices that we see now which can be from $100,000 to $2 million depending on the style and leather you get. Jane also loved how the bag still held that minimalistic look to go with her everyday outfits. She even had it personalized and added accessories such as stickers. Even though the bag is so hugely popular now and you need to be on a waitlist to get it in your hands, the bag didn’t perform as well as the brand had assumed due to the popularity of how Chanel was doing during this time in the market.
In the 200s, the luxury brand began to make special limited editions designs of the bag and create certain renditions with different leathers and colors. These are also known as the special order bags which we hear a lot about on social media. When we zoom to today, we see tons of celebrities such as the Kardashians and the Jenners, Kate Moss, the Olsen twins, Lindsay Lohan, Cardi B, Victoria Beckham, Chrissy Teigen and more. Birkin sold her original bag for almost $170,000 in exchange for a donation to an organization. For now, Jane’s legacy lives on within the fashion, music and film industry and we will forever remember her.
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