Jane Birkin asks for her name to be taken off famed Hermes croc bag after You Tube video
British actress Jane Birkin has asked Hermès International to remove her name from its iconic crocodile-skin handbag because of what she called the cruel methods used on farms that raise the reptiles for their skins.
“I have asked Hermès to un-baptise the Birkin Croco until better practices in line with international norms can be put in place,” the 68-year-old Ms. Birkin said, quoted in the Wall Street Journal.
Her action came after the animal-rights group PETA posted a video on YouTube last month that showed crocodiles at farms in Texas and Zimbabwe. In the video, the crocodiles were crammed into concrete pits, and workers were hacking and skinning conscious animals.
Hermès said this week that it was also shocked by the PETA video and that an investigation at the Texas farm is under way. The company said that it doesn’t own the farm and that no skins from the Texas facility are used to make Birkin bags.
In the meantime, the luxury brand has sought to maintain cordial relations with Ms. Birkin, its top product ambassador, says the WSJ.
“Her comments do not in any way influence the friendship and confidence that we have shared for many years,” Hermès said.
The idea for the bag came when Ms. Birkin was seated next to then-Hermès chairman Jean-Louis Dumas on a plane in 1984. She complained that she couldn’t find a bag big enough to suit her. Dumas offered to create one that would be large enough for her to carry “her house” but stylish enough for the brand to lend the bag its name.
The Birkin became an instant classic and they sell for tens of thousands of dollars today.
A fuschia-colored, diamond-studded Birkin bag made of crocodile skin recently set a record for the most expensive bag sold at auction, fetching $222,000 at a Christie’s sale in Hong Kong.