The hammer came down at €7 million. With fees, Jane Birkin's own Hermès bag cost its new owner €8,582,500 at Sotheby's Paris on 10 July 2025, and Guinness now lists it as the most expensive handbag ever sold at auction. Not bad for a bag that, the story goes, started as a doodle on an airline sick bag.
The story (and the lore)
You have heard the flight version. 1984, Jane Birkin beside Jean-Louis Dumas, a sketch for a bag that could take a young mother's day. Hermès made that first piece for her and later sold the shape. Call the in-flight sketch lore (Birkin told Vogue she drew it on a sick bag). Reuters repeated the flight story when the 2025 sale ran. Hammer versus fees is above.
What marks a Birkin
Sotheby's guide to the model (features little changed since 1984) keeps it simple: two rolled top handles; a flap with sangles around a central turn-lock, clochette holding padlock and keys; a structured base with four clou feet. That is the silhouette people mean.
Price over time (sourced retail)
US boutique / list for the Hermès Birkin 25 in Togo, from Sotheby's published tables. Hermès does not list Birkins online. Retail, not resale:
| Period | US list |
|---|---|
| 2016 | $9,400 |
| 2019–21 | $9,850 |
| 2022 | $10,100 |
| 2023 | $10,400 |
| 2024 | $11,400 |
| Early 2025 | $12,100 |
| May 2025 (US-only) | $12,700 |
| 2026 | $13,500 |
About +44% over a decade at list, in steps, not a smooth climb. Hermès raised US and European Birkin and Kelly prices again in January 2026. Sotheby's puts US increases on core leather sizes at roughly 6.3%–8.9%, with the Birkin 25 Togo moving from $12,700 (May 2025) to $13,500 (Sotheby's, Jan 2026).
Resale is another ledger. In that January 2026 retail context, Sotheby's notes pristine Birkin 25 and 30 examples commonly trading around $28,000–$30,000: about 2.1–2.2× the Birkin 25's $13,500 US list, or roughly 1.9–2.0× the Birkin 30's $14,900. Do not mash that premium onto the boutique row above.
Also this week
Balenciaga raised prices in Japan in the week of 12 October 2026. WiseBuy's weekly scrape of official catalogues caught 125 of 662 tracked items up, typical rise +3.9% (Rodeo Large handbag among them, ¥878,900 → ¥914,100). Source: WiseBuy Luxury Price Increase Tracker, prices last checked 12 October 2026.
Read the full record
Published 19 Oct 2026 by the LuxuryPriceIndex editorial team. This is the web edition of The Letter issue #2. Not affiliated with Hermès. Sources: Reuters (10 Jul 2025); Vogue (hammer €7m / fees; Birkin on the sick-bag sketch); Sotheby's Birkin guide; Sotheby's Jan 2026 prices; Guinness World Records; WiseBuy.