From Jane Birkin to Audrey Hepburn, 'It girls' have inspired the success of designer bags for decades - ABC News

The death of French singer and actress Jane Birkin has brought the luxury Hermès handbag she inspired back into the limelight. 

Birkin was on a flight from Paris to London in 1983 when she was seated next to the chairman of luxury brand Hermès, Jean-Louis Dumas.

The contents of the basket she was known for carrying around fell out onto the floor — scrambling for her things, Birkin told Dumas she had been unable to find a leather bag she liked.

He went on to design the Birkin leather bag for her in 1984.

And while the star later asked for her name to be taken off the bag, they are still known around the world as the ultimate status symbol, selling for thousands of dollars. 

Now that she has passed, just like other bags associated with celebrities who are no longer alive, some experts suggest the bag will be even more highly sought after.

"Celebrity association with handbags have a massive impact  on consumers, it's really, really big and goes all the way back to Grace Kelly," Dr Andrew Hughes, marketing lecturer at Australian National University said. 

"We always see a spike in sales in the immediate 12 months after and then it's iconic, it's the same with handbags."

'It' girls and bags

Jane Birkin wasn't the first or the last celebrity to inspire a designer handbag. 

The Hermès Sac à dépêches bag was renamed the Kelly bag after famous actress Grace Kelly used it to shield her baby bump from paparazzi in 1955. 

The famous paparazzi shot that inspired the re-naming of the Hermes bag.  (Getty Images)

Princess Diana inspired three classic bags from three separate fashion houses. 

The Lady Dior, by Christian Dior, the Gucci Diana and the Chanel Diana bag. 

In 1959, Audrey Hepburn asked Louis Vuitton to make a miniaturised version of the brand's Keepall bag and the Speedy 25 was born. 

Many designer bags are named after they are seen out with celebrities, who popularised the bag.

Former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis inspired the rebranding of the Gucci Jackie bag. 

Dr Hughes said famous TV characters have a proven influence in the popularisation and purchasing of designer bags. 

"Carrie Bradshaw and Sex and the City have had huge influences on the evolution of handbags and is a famous example of how handbags have relied on celebrity to become a success," Dr Hughes said. 

"Everyone wants the 'it' bag."

Sarah Jessica Parker's character Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City has inspired countless fashion trends.  (Supplied: HBO Max)

Classic marketing

The connection between luxury brands and A-list celebrities or 'it girls' appeals to consumers' aspirations, said Kathleen Horton, senior design lecturer at the Queensland University of Technology. 

"It's classic marketing in terms of that aspirational idea that a person like Jane Birkin represents a lifestyle or even a way of being that is highly desirable," she said. 

"This weird idea that in getting this bag, owning this bag or renting them that you are somehow buying into that."

Ms Horton said the association of celebrities like Jane Birkin with the Hermès bag brought legacy brands forward to new consumers at the time. 

"I think it’s interesting the way they’ve managed to riff off celebrity," she said. 

"Jane Birkin is an interesting one because I think probably because she was from that kind of elite world but had that hippy thing going on, I think this was a way for these more stuffy brands to become hip and cool."

"So you get a merging of elite culture with this kind of hipness that’s associated with youth from 1960s."

But she says the future of celebrity association with luxury brands is up in the air. 

"Is there going to be a new 'it' girl, an 'it' person.. (the bags are named after) that's a good question.

"It's really creepy how they use these dead people, Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly is used to sell these things.

"Is this whole idea of female elegance a bit outdated?

"I don’t know the answer to that one."

Dr Hughes said the nature of the relationship between brand and celebrity is evolving. 

"There’s still room (for celebrity inspired pieces) but the impact they will have will be far different because we are in an age of the mass celebrity," he said. 

"Even though it’s a very competitive market and the internet has broken down barriers in terms of access to these items, their shelf life will be shorter."

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2023-07-17 20:00:02Z
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