When did the birkin become popular exactly

[kittykelly]

I know the birkin was released in 1984 but I don't recall anyone in the 80 a having one or the early nineties for that matter. I vaguely remember them becoming popular around the late 90 s and for that matter on any resale site I've really never seen a Nikon that goes back to the 80s - I was wondering if any of you had any Insigight on when the birkin became the it bag... And why

 

[ABlovesH]

I think it started to get really popular in the late 90's- prior to that it had a very limited audience. I'm not sure what made it suddenly so popular actually, but I do remember around that time there were many fashion magazines mentioning the Birkin and suddenly you started seeing them all over Manhattan, not just on the UES.

 

[Bevyofpurses]

Hmm late 90s SATC era could be. That show started a lot of trends.

 

[thyme]

from what i heard from the SAs who has worked at H for decades, there were still birkins, kellys and constances on the shelves a few years ago.. pre 2010..but from then on.. no chance! i think the internet and social media has a lot to do with it ..

 

[aerinha]

Sex and the City did a whole ep on the waiting list as Samantha tried to get one. That was the first I heard of a birkin. Then Victoria Beckham had much made of her huge collection and it seemed every celeb had a birkin after that.

 

[ABlovesH]

from what i heard from the SAs who has worked at H for decades, there were still birkins, kellys and constances on the shelves a few years ago.. pre 2010..but from then on.. no chance! i think the internet and social media has a lot to do with it ..

I remember when Kellys & Constances were on the shelves- not hard to find at all. Birkins were more rare, but they were definitely on the shelves on occasion (that's how I got my very first one actually). And then shortly thereafter, all of these articles came out about waitlists for Birkins lol! I don't think I've seen a Birkin on a shelf in at least a decade, though Kellys & Constances were still seen until maybe a few years ago. I think you're right about the Internet, social media, etc- virtually everyone has at least heard of a Birkin nowadays. And I almost forgot about SATC- that definitely contributed to the Birkin craze!

 

[martiniandlace]

I see this affluence in my industry and it is not so much about the bags or homes/properties/cars being popular or being the "IT" item but more of a re-distribution/new accumulation of wealth in the world and the fact that the number of people who can afford unlimited luxury is growing almost exponentially. The most expensive and best made handbag out there is made by Hermes.

Credit the Asian wealth expansion and insatiable love of luxury......Asia rose to affluence in the 1980's and 90's. Right about the time you say the bags became popular. The why is relatively easy and has little to do with SATC.

http://www.povertyeducation.org/the-rise-of-asia.html

I remember going into the Chanel boutique recently and reminiscing about how the Chanel bags used to go on sale ...Up to 50% off every season. The SA said... People dont need these items to be on sale anymore.

Asia-Pacific millionaires expanded their assets at an annual rate of 4.9 percent in the five years to 2012, three times faster than expansion in North America, home to the largest concentration of millionaire wealth, according to the UB report.

The number of high net-worth individuals in the Asia-Pacific region grew 9.4 percent to 3.68 million last year, slipping to second behind North America, which rose 11.5 percent from a year earlier to 3.73 million, according to the 17th annual World Wealth Report published in June.

The two market regions I am surprised that the wealth-management industry has overlooked are Africa, in parts, and Latin America, in parts, and that wealth management industry had focused almost exclusively on Asia, which has been quite phenomenal for wealth expansion.


..............The number of Africans with at least $1 million of investable assets climbed 9.9 percent to 140,000 in 2012, according to a report published on June 18 by Cap Gemini SA (CAP) and Royal Bank of Canada. That was the fastest rate of increase outside North America as the economies of countries such as Nigeria and Ghana grew at more than 5 percent last year


Add the 3.68 million Asian muilti-millionaires to the new Russian, African, Indian, Middle Eastern multi-millionaires who truly want and can afford the finest things money can buy and there is your "IT" bag.

Hermes cannot make these bags fast enough anymore. There will just have to be another bag better and more expensive than the Birkin or Kelly. So until then.....Unfortunately....The Bentley bags dont cut it either.

Sorry for the long discourse...:shame:.

 

[BritAbroad]

I see this affluence in my industry and it is not so much about the bags or homes/properties/cars being popular or being the "IT" item but more of a re-distribution/new accumulation of wealth in the world and the fact that the number of people who can afford unlimited luxury is growing almost exponentially. The most expensive and best made handbag out there is made by Hermes.

Credit the Asian wealth expansion and insatiable love of luxury......Asia rose to affluence in the 1980's and 90's. Right about the time you say the bags became popular. The why is relatively easy and has little to do with SATC.

http://www.povertyeducation.org/the-rise-of-asia.html

I remember going into the Chanel boutique recently and reminiscing about how the Chanel bags used to go on sale ...Up to 50% off every season. The SA said... People dont need these items to be on sale anymore.

Asia-Pacific millionaires expanded their assets at an annual rate of 4.9 percent in the five years to 2012, three times faster than expansion in North America, home to the largest concentration of millionaire wealth, according to the UB report.

The number of high net-worth individuals in the Asia-Pacific region grew 9.4 percent to 3.68 million last year, slipping to second behind North America, which rose 11.5 percent from a year earlier to 3.73 million, according to the 17th annual World Wealth Report published in June.

The two market regions I am surprised that the wealth-management industry has overlooked are Africa, in parts, and Latin America, in parts, and that wealth management industry had focused almost exclusively on Asia, which has been quite phenomenal for wealth expansion.


..............The number of Africans with at least $1 million of investable assets climbed 9.9 percent to 140,000 in 2012, according to a report published on June 18 by Cap Gemini SA (CAP) and Royal Bank of Canada. That was the fastest rate of increase outside North America as the economies of countries such as Nigeria and Ghana grew at more than 5 percent last year


Add the 3.68 million Asian muilti-millionaires to the new Russian, African, Indian, Middle Eastern multi-millionaires who truly want and can afford the finest things money can buy and there is your "IT" bag.

Hermes cannot make these bags fast enough anymore. There will just have to be another bag better and more expensive than the Birkin or Kelly. So until then.....Unfortunately....The Bentley bags dont cut it either.

Sorry for the long discourse...:shame:.

I worked in Foreign Aid for many years and I'm heading back into it again. It's fascinating to see the wealth stats of late in some of these regions.
My family lived in Lagos, Nigeria for 13 years and my husband works for an oil company who is active in Nigeria. One thing I cannot imagine seeing is anyone carrying a B or K there... Be it a compound or gated community, no matter, they will break in and do so regularly.
The corruption in law enforcement remains atrocious and they are more likely to assist in a home invasion than investigate it after.
A $10,000 bag could literally cost you your life, it wouldn't ever need to leave your closet, gossip spreads fast enough there.
Investors in Nigeria, those who live in a safer region, will be more likely to have an impact on H sales.

 

[L.Vuitton.Freak]

Hmm late 90s SATC era could be. That show started a lot of trends.

All I remember from that episode is '…is Hermes French for taking your f*@king time…' God that god me in this state not long after -->

 

[martiniandlace]

I worked in Foreign Aid for many years and I'm heading back into it again. It's fascinating to see the wealth stats of late in some of these regions.
My family lived in Lagos, Nigeria for 13 years and my husband works for an oil company who is active in Nigeria. One thing I cannot imagine seeing is anyone carrying a B or K there... Be it a compound or gated community, no matter, they will break in and do so regularly.
The corruption in law enforcement remains atrocious and they are more likely to assist in a home invasion than investigate it after.
A $10,000 bag could literally cost you your life, it wouldn't ever need to leave your closet, gossip spreads fast enough there.
Investors in Nigeria, those who live in a safer region, will be more likely to have an impact on H sales.

Teeny Teeny Tiny world indeed!!!. I will PM you. Check out this site and see what the Nigerians are doing...You will be surprised, very surprised!!...Real and fake Hermes all carried with the same amount of pride!!. www.Bellanaija.com. Type in Hermes in the search box.

 

[BritAbroad]

Teeny Teeny Tiny world indeed!!!. I will PM you. Check out this site and see what the Nigerians are doing...You will be surprised, very surprised!!...Real and fake Hermes all carried with the same amount of pride!!. www.Bellanaija.com

Small world for sure! Please do PM
It's fantastic to see positive changes there, it's certainly getting better. The last trip out my Uncle's dogs were killed in his yard and his neighbor murdered in case of road rage, just on the outskirts of Lagos. Luckily he sent his wife and kids back with the car to get help but upon return with the police they found him hung from a tree at the side of the road...very tragic.
Any progress for safety and prosperity is most welcome.

 

[gbese]

Hello, I live in Lagos and do carry my H bags (bolide, lindy, kelly, birkin) quite regularly. Having said that I am aware that I live and work in the affluent part of Lagos and I am blessed to have a wonderful lifestyle. Others aren't so lucky. What I have noticed is that there are other ladies in Nigeria that carry their real and fake Bs and Ks with pride, there are also are aspirational shoppers who know what the bag is and point it out as though one was pointing at a celebrity but the majority of people have no idea what I am carrying. Some people quietly take a note of your H and move on others squeal with delight. The squeals can be quite disconcerting to say the least.

However there are some areas of Lagos where I wouldn't carry an H bag but it can be likened to carrying your H bag to known less-than-savory areas in London or New York. The crime rate is quite high as is unemployment and poverty. Situations such as those described by BritAboard do exist in Nigeria and much of the world. The last five years has seen some brands coming into Lagos eg Porsche, moet & chandon, rolex, MAC, KFC, Ford etc but the super luxury brands eg the Chanel, Hermes, Lana Marks etc have not made the leap.

 

[martiniandlace]

Hello, I live in Lagos and do carry my H bags (bolide, lindy, kelly, birkin) quite regularly. Having said that I am aware that I live and work in the affluent part of Lagos and I am blessed to have a wonderful lifestyle. Others aren't so lucky. What I have noticed is that there are other ladies in Nigeria that carry their real and fake Bs and Ks with pride, there are also are aspirational shoppers who know what the bag is and point it out as though one was pointing at a celebrity but the majority of people have no idea what I am carrying. Some people quietly take a note of your H and move on others squeal with delight. The squeals can be quite disconcerting to say the least.

However there are some areas of Lagos where I wouldn't carry an H bag but it can be likened to carrying your H bag to known less-than-savory areas in London or New York. The crime rate is quite high as is unemployment and poverty. Situations such as those described by BritAboard do exist in Nigeria and much of the world. The last five years has seen some brands coming into Lagos eg Porsche, moet & chandon, rolex, MAC, KFC, Ford etc but the super luxury brands eg the Chanel, Hermes, Lana Marks etc have not made the leap.

Love your User name!!!. I know a few women in Nigeria who own several Hermes bags and use them also in the country. The luxury brands simply follow the money...Its only a matter of time before they enter those markets. Hermes seems to be currently focused on Asia and Russia and who can blame them.

Thank goodness the brands are not as discriminatory as the people who buy their products.. Some birkin owners would want Hermes to assess your lineage before they sell to you and make you are of a certain stripe before you can buy or or even carry one of their bags.

Carrying a birkin gives some owners a sense of superiority over those who cannot afford one. It is a display of wealth and the ultimate status symbol when it comes to handbags. It's the Lamborghini, Ferrari, Bentley, MacLaren, Rolls Royce of handbags.

Its obviously easier to afford a Birkin than a Rolls Royce yet carrying a Birkin gives its wearers the impression that they also are breathing in the same rarefied air as those who own vast amounts of wealth.

This is one of the reasons why the Birkin is still very popular...and will always be until something more expensive and harder to get comes along.

 

[mistikat]

Although the discussion of the popularity (or lack of same) of luxury goods in different countries is fascinating, it really has wandered away from the thread topic.

So if we could get back to the OPs original question of when the Birkin took off in popularity, it would be appreciated.

Thanks, all.

 

[gbese]

Thanks! always happy to meet a fellow H user! Human beings are a funny lot though! Everyone wants to buy the exclusive item that no-one else has and then be celebrated for it. The trouble is there really isn't anything that is so exclusive that one else in the world has! If such an item existed, it wouldn't have much value to anyone but the user. As has been said many times by those much wiser than I, to each his own!