H Bags as Signifiers of Status: 2022 and Beyond Discussion

[WhiteBus]

Back in the day when the bag was created for Jane Birkin,
Hermes, Goyard, Gucci and LV were just, to use an appropriate verb, purveyors of high quality luggage.
Apart from social commentators like Peter York (The Sloane Ranger Handbook) branding was not recognised.
Even with Peter York the branding was associated with social class, not indicators of anything as dirty as wealth.
Do we have Sex in the City and other similar 'television' (equated by Graham Norton in conversation with Dame Maggie Smith as 'common') series, to blame for the present 'wealth flags' these items have become?

 

[Veritybelle]

That’s an interesting question - what triggered the pivot from class to wealth signal, and when. I think it occurred well before the SM era although SM turbocharged it. It’s a long time ago now and my memory could be faulty, but the Birkin episode of SATC ran in a period where there was already known to be a waitlist for the bag (I think 3 years?). So already very high demand and strong perception of the bag. Back then there were some different factors at play in that waitlist (compared to now), because you could order your bag in whatever specs you wanted and production capacity was lower. I can’t remember if H was already curating scarcity at that point (others may know better?). I think Samantha Jones was the first key "mass" market influence in positioning the bag as an “I’ve made it” statement.

I imagine Jane B thought it was all nonsense!

 

[880]

Back in the day when the bag was created for Jane Birkin,
Hermes, Goyard, Gucci and LV were just, to use an appropriate verb, purveyors of high quality luggage.
Apart from social commentators like Peter York (The Sloane Ranger Handbook) branding was not recognised.
Even with Peter York the branding was associated with social class, not indicators of anything as dirty as wealth.
Do we have Sex in the City and other similar 'television' (equated by Graham Norton in conversation with Dame Maggie Smith as 'common') series, to blame for the present 'wealth flags' these items have become?

The birkin was created in the mid 80’s? Back then, I remember my mom and her friends disdaining the Hermes bags (like Kelly bags) as old lady bags. She and her friends wore Chanel. I think they also wore Chanel or LV totes for work or daytime. No one carried top handle bags or totes like the birkin. They were too heavy. They wore Gucci loafers and chunky heels, and later manolos. Plenty of people used luggage from manufacturers like Hickey Freeman (which I thought was the precursor to tumi ) for business travel. LV or Gucci luggage too. But there was also a trend. . .kind of from the preppy handbag, for investment bankers etc. to carry their bank/company branded canvas totes ( LL bean style). Later on that morphed into VC or PE polar fleece everything In my opinion, in NYC in the nineties, there was a kind of uniformity. Everyone had the Chanel bag; the full length mink coat; the mikimoto pearls. . ,etc.

I don’t recall labels being such a big deal until maybe the mid 1990s on, but maybe my memory is faulty. But there were plenty of very wealthy people who simply didn’t care.

 

[Veritybelle]

The birkin was created in the mid 80’s? Back then, I remember my mom and her friends disdaining the Hermes bags (like Kelly bags) as old lady bags. She and her friends wore Chanel. I think they also wore Chanel or LV totes for work or daytime. No one carried top handle bags or totes like the birkin. They were too heavy. They wore Gucci loafers and chunky heels, and later manolos. Plenty of people used luggage from manufacturers like Hickey Freeman (which I thought was the precursor to tumi ) for business travel. LV or Gucci luggage too. But there was also a trend. . .kind of from the preppy handbag, for investment bankers etc. to carry their bank/company branded canvas totes ( LL bean style). Later on that morphed into VC or PE polar fleece everything In my opinion, in NYC in the nineties, there was a kind of uniformity. Everyone had the Chanel bag; the full length mink coat; the mikimoto pearls. . ,etc.

I don’t recall labels being such a big deal until maybe the mid 1990s on, but maybe my memory is faulty. But there were plenty of very wealthy people who simply didn’t care.

Yes I agree that H was far less common than Chanel/LV in the 90s. Back then my friends and I all carried LV epi leather bags as our daily workhorses.

 

[WhiteBus]

I don’t recall labels being such a big deal until maybe the mid 1990s on, but maybe my memory is faulty. But there were plenty of very wealthy people who simply didn’t care.

Exactly; they didn't need to and still don't

unfortunately there is a new trend for 'old money' or quiet or understated luxury which, as an intentional style, rather misses the point

 

[WhiteBus]

Can I point out to anyone now joining this discussion,
that I wrote what is now the lead post in this thread
in response to this severely cut, but this was the essence:

three very much younger Hermès ladies at The Ivy during lunch . . . were talking about how they baby their birkins so much. . . heard one say they won’t buy anything over size 25, the other say she can’t get herself to remove the stickers . ..
. . .The writer reporting this thought they were the polar opposite of how Jane Birkin was with her Birkin . . .came to a realization that it’s very rare that to see anyone, even in their circle of friends and lifelong Hermès patrons, using their Birkin like Jane Birkin did - as a good quality utilitarian tote that will stand the test of time.

 

[ladysarah]

Well it would have been impossible to predict how a bag would be used when designing it 40 years ago, but birkins have taken a life of their own.
Nobody can really treat todays birkin like Jane Birkin did- we live in different times and it simply would not be authentic. Jane Birkin had a very specific aesthetic, she was true to herself and that’s how she carried her things. She also got her birkins for free obviously - no waiting list for her I’d imagine… I believe reading somewhere that she auctioned her old bag every year for charity and got a new one compliments of Hermes. She never asked for royalties about thé use of her name - but do correct me if I am wrong.
There is very little doubt that birkins are now a status symbol and a signifier of wealth. Except perhaps very large ones used as luggage..

 

[Letter]

I believe reading somewhere that she auctioned her old bag every year for charity and got a new one compliments of Hermes.

If this is true it tracks with my annoyance at people who are always saying, with noses in the air, that it’s practically a crime to baby our bags and we should all act like Jane Birkin.

 

[ladysarah]

If this is true it tracks with my annoyance at people who are always saying, with noses in the air, that it’s practically a crime to baby our bags and we should all act like Jane Birkin.

I am not at all sure that is true- it could just be that she donated to charity the royalties she got from Hermes.
There is really no reason to be annoyed about how anyone chooses to carry their bag - it’s not a crime to baby ones bag, though I could see how someone could find it irritating to be around someone who is too pre occupied with the safety of their bag. Likewise someone might find it shocking and unhygienic to see a birkin bag being thrown on the floor.

 

[cravin]

I believe that this “H-Craze” is a by-product of social media influencers and the psychology from the lock downs from COVID. Hermes bags do not tend to change with fads (other than higher production of minis) but everyone now knows what they are and how much they cost. The scarcity adds to the mania and it’s the same reason that some people hang a huge swordfish on their homes. Winning the hunt.

Many well-to-do folks that we know are moving away from H all together as they don’t like the attention it brings. A few of them have been asked blatantly rude questions on the streets. “How did you get it? Didn’t it cost you $30,000?”

That all being said, H is still H and I don’t see their bags ever losing “status” symbolism. They have the demand/supply equation down to a science.

 

[A bottle of Red]

i hate the jane birkin/olsen twin bag look. To me it's not just being careless ; it goes beyond the'I'm so rich I don't need to baby my bag because I can just get another' to disrespectful of an expensive well crafted item.
And no I don't baby my bags , and I believe in using them but not destroying them.

 

[addiCCted]

How did you get it? Didn’t it cost you $30,000?”

So crass…..

 

[textilegirl]

I wonder if at least Birkins have moved beyond the status/wealth signifiers and into a different sort of symbolic marker. I’m thinking about the ‘meta Birkin’ artwork, along with the Birkin bag skirt that’s moved from one pop star to another. Cf., Christina Aguilera and more recently Kesha at Lollapalooza.

ETA: not sure why but the ability to provide links isn’t working ATM.

 

[880]

I wonder if at least Birkins have moved beyond the status/wealth signifiers and into a different sort of symbolic marker. I’m thinking about the ‘meta Birkin’ artwork, along with the Birkin bag skirt that’s moved from one pop star to another. Cf., Christina Aguilera and more recently Kesha at Lollapalooza.

ETA: not sure why but the ability to provide links isn’t working ATM.

Well a birkin isn’t as iconic as a Campbell soup can,
But, I’m an elderly woman lol

Perhaps young people today will be quicker to recognize a B

 

[TC1]

I think I lie somewhere in the middle. I wanted a Vintage B so that it was broken-in and around the year of my daughters birth (2003) to use as I see fit and not worry about the leather… and enjoy the craftsmanship.
Definitely couldn’t afford to play the “game” some refer to.
I don’t baby my bag, but it’s doesn’t look like it’s been dragged behind a car either. lol