First Birkin bag made by Hermès sells for record US$10 million at Paris auction

The first-ever Birkin bag designed by French luxury brand Hermès for celebrity Jane Birkin sold for €8.58 million (US$10 million) at a Sotheby’s auction in Paris on July 10, 2025, smashing previous price records for a handbag. The final buyer, who outbid eight other rivals, was a “private collector from Japan”, the auction house added, without giving further details. The previous record price for a handbag at auction was set by a diamond-encrusted crocodile-skin Hermès Kelly 28, which fetched US$513,000 in 2021 at Christie’s in Hong Kong.