The Hermès Birkin bag is one of the most iconic and coveted luxury fashion accessories in the world, with timeless design and exquisite craftsmanship that made it a symbol of wealth, status, and exclusivity. The Birkin bag was created by the French luxury fashion house, Hermès in 1984, in collaboration with the actress and singer Jane Birkin. The design for the iconic bag originated on an Air France flight when the actress, popular for carrying her oversized basket bag, complained about the lack of a functional and stylish bag to her co-passenger. Luckily, for her and luxury enthusiasts over the world, the co-passenger was Jean-Louis Dumas (Jean-Louis Dumas was the Chief Executive and Artistic Director of Hermès who was credited with turning the brand into a global luxury brand during his tenure as chairman) who sketched out a design for a practical and stylish bag, with a spacious interior and a secure closure, ideal for travel as well as everyday use on an airplane sick bag. The bag quickly became a status symbol among the elite, with waiting lists for new Birkin bags stretching for years.

Making of the BIRKIN

Since, Hermès shuns mass production and outsourcing, and focus on celebrating its in-house artisans and their work, therefore, each product is handcrafted in their ateliers with increased concentration on discipline and precision with unlimited creative freedom to design products that are functional while being equivalent to high-art. The artisans are highly skilled with years of quality experience under their sleeve before taking up the task of crafting the iconic bags.

Each Birkin bag is masterfully crafted from beginning to conclusion by a single highly trained artisan, which illustrates the production of mere two pieces per week. Each leather worker has their own set of tools that they eventually take home with them when they retire, and have minimal to no intervention in the fellow artisan’s craft of the same bag.

Each one of the newly crafted bag is inspected and the ones that passes the initial examination is stamped. This stamp identifies the craftsman who manufactured the bag, the workshop where it was created, and the year. It then heads to Bobigny for a last and comprehensive inspection, and once it conforms to requirements and standard, gets packaged in the iconic orange box and shipped to one of Hermès’ boutiques around the world. If any defective bags are discovered, they are usually destroyed since the brand prides itself in delivering perfect and exceptionally quality bags and would not want to risk the defective ones falling into the hands of counterfeiters or resellers.

BIRKIN marketing and Investment

A Birkin is a better investment than gold or equities.

This widely popular statement is almost like a mantra to Hermès lovers and defenders of luxury across the globe. The statement is deemed to have originated when a survey by luxury resell portal Baghunter stated that the value Hermès bags to have risen by 14% every year, making the Birkin a status symbol as well as a better financial investment than art or the stock market.

This was supplemented by the Art Market Research (AMR) in 2020 who deemed that Hermès handbags have increased in value by 83% over the last ten years, and by Knight Frank Investment Index, a company tracking luxury index, ranked the Birkin to be No.1 in performance against other collectibles like luxury art, classic cars, wine and so on.

The Birkin’s incredible demand stems from three factors: excellent quality, deliberate exclusivity, and impeccable style. The supply is significantly less than the global demand, which is factor that drives prices higher, and it is this planned scarcity strategy that heightens the Birkin’s uniqueness and underlines its attractiveness.

Therefore, buying a Birkin bag from a Hermès shop is extremely difficult as part of the brand’s scarcity strategy. No customer is likely to be offered the opportunity to acquire a Birkin bag on their first trip to the boutique, unless they have formed a connection with a sales representative and spent far into the five figures. Often, this connection is built over time through multiple purchases of items that are nicknamed as the “Birkin Baits”. And in case one is given the opportunity, the boutique places them on the bag’s “waitlist” is now referred to as its “wishlist”. The waiting period can range from months to years, depending on one’s desired style and colourway; the price can range from around $8,500 to upwards of $200,000.

However, Hermès also provides Special Order Birkin Bags to their VIP customers who have shown significant brand devotion. Over a decade ago, these Special Order (HSS) Birkin bags began to have an embossed Horseshoe Stamp next to the brand’s logo stamp on these ultra-rare Hermès purses, thus naming it the HSS bags. Since the HSS bags are so rare and required such a long wait time and a strong purchase history, they sell often sell at a premium in the secondary market, and were deemed as a “collectible” and worthwhile investment for Hermès enthusiasts. The Birkin’s, once used to be extensively customisable, however due to the strong demand, the options for these Hermès bags have become more limited.

Cases revolving around BIRKIN

Over the years, the Birkin bag has become a symbol of luxury and exclusivity, with prices ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Its popularity has led to a proliferation of counterfeit Birkin bags, which has posed a major problem for Hermès. In response, Hermès has instituted suits against counterfeiters, with mixed success. The infamous MetaBirkins case is one of the many legal actions, the brand has had to take to protect its iconic product.

• Hermès Int’l v. Steven Stolman, Ltd., No. 03 Civ. 3722 (E.D.N.Y. 2003) – Trade dress litigation

This case involved, Mr. Stolman purchasing the popular rubber bags from an Italian manufacturer, exhibited the “Jelly Kelly” in his Manhattan and eastern Long Island stores for $145 each. The Jelly Kelly is a synthetic rubber copy of Hermès’s famous Birkin bag that was the hot item of the summer and fall of the year 2003, and this led to Mr.Stolman to urge his customers to join a waiting list once his initial supply was exhausted.It was reported to be done as a satire- like a Rolls-Royce made of plastic, insisting that it was not meant to be a faithful rerendering of the Hermès original. However, the brand filed a trademark, trade dress and unfair competition lawsuit in federal court in Central Islip, New York stating unspecified damages.

In this case, the court recognised trade dress for the shape of the Hermès Birkin Bag and its design features over the allegedly copying Jelly Kelly Bag despite the differences in design features between the two products, such as materials in calf leather versus rubber, keyhole cut- out designs, and strap designs. The Court found that these design features were “strongly associated with Hermès” and granted a permanent injunction against the sale of Jelly Kelly Bag along with an undisclosed settlement.

• Hermès International v. Emperia, Inc. et al., 14-CV-03522 (C.D. Cal. 2014). – Trade dress and Trademark litigation

This case revolved around the unauthorised sale of infringing knockoffs of the iconic Hermès Birkin bag to online retailers. The defendants Emperia, Inc., Anne-Sophie, Inc. and Top’s Handbag, Inc. were accused of being related sister companies in the business of importing and distributing women’s handbags and selling infringing knockoff bags to Charming Charlie and JustFab. The brand was swift to take action by sending cease and desist letters, but despite having actual knowledge of the rights of Hermès in the Birkin Bag trademark the Defendants continued to expand and sell additional knockoff designs, which led to the suit being filed by the brand who sought injunctive relief, damages, statutory treble damages, costs, and accounting of profits.

The court stated that the Birkin Bag’s shape had acquired secondary meaning and developed into a famous trademark, and added that even the strap/turn and lock/padlock closure is independently famous and the subject of another U.S. trademark registration. However, the parties entered into a settlement agreement and had jointly filed for the dismissal.

• Hermès International v. NAO INTERNATIONAL Co., Ltd – Reiwa3(wa)22287 – Infringement of the 3D shape of the “Birkin” bag trademark

The Tokyo District Court ruled in favour of HERMÈS INTERNATIONAL in a suit instituted by the brand for trademark infringement and unfair competition lawsuit, in which it accused NAO INTERNATIONAL Co., Ltd. of selling handbags that resembled the well-known designs of its prized Birkin and Kelly bags in its Japanese stores and on its e-commerce site. Hermès effectively shown in the Japanese market that the three-dimensional shapes of its two most famous handbags have acquired secondary meaning (and hence are not merely typical handbag shapes), resulting in registrations in 2011.

The Court awarded Hermès JPY2,900,000 in damages for trademark infringement and passing-off. According to the ruling, the Hermès Birkin Bag attained distinctiveness and constituted as a source indicator of Hermès’ premium bags that aided the court to determine that the defendant’s goods constitute an infringement of the 3D shape of the “Birkin” bag the court to determine that the defendant’s goods constitute an infringement of the 3D shape of the “Birkin” bag trademark.

The Hermès Birkin bag is not just a fashion accessory, but a cultural phenomenon. From its humble beginnings as a practical accessory for the jet-setting elite, to its current status as a must-have luxury item for collectors and investors, the Birkin Bag has remained a true symbol of luxury and exclusivity. However, Hermès’ strong scarcity model with its cumbersome process to procure Hermès Birkin has created a community of resellers who buy and sell Birkins and other Hermès bags to the public, along with counterfeiters who provide a taste of the luxury to the masses, which the brand continues to fight.

This legendary fashion icon with a history intertwined with the complex issues of luxury, exclusivity, counterfeiting, and legal disputes continues to inspire and captivate fashion and luxury enthusiasts with its timeless design, impeccable craftsmanship, and unparalleled heritage, cementing its place as a true icon in the world of fashion.