And to me, this is precisely the thing. What they are doing is as old school that it gets. In Hermes terms, the Birkin is still a young bag.Hi, don't worry I don't think you are criticizing me, I can't imagine anyone doing that over my opinion on a Birkin
The design and the style of the Birkin are iconic and there is a history to it that adds to its draw. For me, some things simply shouldn't be messed with and deconstructed, and one of those things is a Birkin. The Birkin is the epitome of a perfect bag (to me) While most people don't use the flap as it was intended to, the design does not intrude on any function when it is tucked back, as most carry it. Also, what would be the point of the lock and clochette? there would be nothing to really close up. I guess one could restrict the entry access point, but that seems kinda forced.
The new deconstructed Birkin doesn't really add anything of value. One might say, "oh but there is a pouch!" ... to me the pouch is not that attractive, and I could buy any one of hermes' many pouches and put it in my Birkin, or use as a clutch. So, the new design doesn't improve function all that much (if at all) and it takes away from the history of the bag.
The story of Jane Birkin and Dumas on the airplane is something that many Hermes lovers recall fondly. This new design, to me, takes away from the original goal and purpose of the Birkin. Again, I am old school and for me the Birkin will always be THE perfect bag.
In my view, the Birkin was far from a “perfect” bag as regards its intended function. As legend has it, it was designed to provide Ms Birkin with a big bag for traveling that could be secured so that stuff wouldn’t fall around in planes. The reality is, the vast majority of people (including Jane Birkin) do not carry their Birkin safely closed as intended, but open, as a tote, with the flap tucked in. And who packs their Birkin on the overhead bin in a plane? Not that many people even use it for traveling, given its weight.
So, a very successful bag? Definitely. A successful design? Not as per the fit-for-purpose test.
I can imagine the Hermes designers have been playing around this idea, the fact that more often than not, people don’t use the Birkin flap, and looking at ways to do without it. I personally don’t love the look of the clutch itself, but I love they are doing this. I had always wondered they hadn’t.
As for tradition, this is exactly within the tradition of Hermes and the reason why they have survived so long. Tweaking old traditional designs is what they do. The Birkin was born, relatively recently, from making modifications to the HAC, a much older and classic design. If they had thought, oh, the HAC is iconic and classic and it shouldn’t be messed up with, the Birkin would have never been born...
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