Will there ever be another Birkin?

The year of quiet luxury, the return to quality, simplicity, and luxury. It seems that 2023 served as a great prelude to what we will witness this new year, an incipit to the increasingly marching desire of luxury fashion houses to launch the most exclusive accessory on the market. Until a few months ago, the Hermès Birkin was known as the world's most expensive fashion item, purchasable only by a select few. Today, competitors like The Row's Margaux, Phoebe Philo's Cabas, and Prada's Buckle join the fray, along with Pharrell's cowboy version unveiled last night at the Louis Vuitton Men's show. In 2023, Louis Vuitton Men's new creative director had already attempted to reach new records with the Millionaire, the million-dollar Speedy, but this new "Birkin" borders on plagiarism - and as history teaches us, Hermès does not take imitators lightly. Pharrell's idea follows a long line of designers drawing inspiration from the evergreen flair of the Birkin, a model experiencing a second golden age since the world turned away from logoed fanny packs in favor of luxury in civilian clothing. While the Birkin has made history in fashion and marketing, becoming an icon of a generation on par with the it-girl from whom it takes its name, the designs of Pharrell, the Olsen twins, Prada, or Philo don't make it to their fifth birthday and fit into the narrative of a trend rather than that of an individualist. The resurgence of the Birkin has led new generations to create the aesthetic of Messy Bags, older ones to dust off forgotten accessories, and brands to attempt to fabricate an interaction, but is it really possible to create a new Birkin?

The Hermès bag recognized on the streets of every city, even by those who are not fashion-savvy, owes its success to Jane Birkin. An idea born on a plane in 1984, when on a Paris-London flight, the actress complained about the small size of her bag to the then president of the house. The bag has always been marked by a fortuitous destiny. Spacious, geometric, stitched with saddle stitching, it was designed for a young mother who needs to carry everything necessary for a day with her child - it is said to even have space for baby bottles. The success of the house's sales campaign is credited with making the bag a status symbol, a marketing paradox that transformed a simple accessory into the Holy Grail of fashion. Inaccessible even for the 1%, it is said that to buy a Birkin requires cultivating years and years of public relations - with the added and expected steps of multiple credit card transactions - with Hermès staff, even though waiting lists for the accessory have not existed since 2010. In addition to being inherently exclusive, during its reign, unique versions have been produced, including editions with gold and diamond trim sold at auction for hundreds of thousands of dollars - the most famous being the Himalaya crocodile Birkin, auctioned in Hong Kong for $377,261. To this day, it holds the same value as an investment piece as a luxury watch, with recent studies showing that the bag had an average return of 14.2% between 1984 and 2015.

Among the possible proponents of a new Birkin, Pharrell, the new creative director of Louis Vuitton Men, stands out, who has been enjoying proposing logoed items at sky-high prices for months. The Olsen twins, following the same philosophy of discreet selling as Hermès with The Row, Phoebe Philo, who has just launched her own brand, preferring sporadic online drops to mainstream shows, and Prada, holding the title of the most viral brand of 2023. Despite all these brands distinguishing themselves in both design and communication techniques, with Louis Vuitton and Prada focusing on popularity, The Row and Phoebe Philo betting on a loyal and niche clientele, they have all already launched bags on the market with the same qualities that made the Birkin an icon: capacity, clean lines, and quality materials. Pharrell plays with the pop spirit of the Speedy, featured in his campaigns with stars like Rihanna and Lebron James, Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons transform the bag into a design object with the Buckle, while the Olsen twins and Phoebe Philo focus on malleable silhouettes with the Margaux and the Cabas. Various reasons prompt magazines and enthusiasts to believe that brands are trying to create a new Birkin. In addition to the extravagant price point - the Cabas by Phoebe Philo reaches up to 7,200 euros, the Margaux at 5,300 - it is the media value of the fashion houses that makes accessories objects of desire. In several years, only a few fortunate individuals will boast of having an item from the first collection of the former creative director of Chloé in their closets.

Notoriety is a crucial value in fashion, but even as TikTok continues to propel unexpected trends, from the Jane Birkin Effect to Quiet Luxury, posts alone are not enough to become a star. Perhaps this is why the only ones approaching the creation of a new it-bag designed for the 1% are the Olsen twins. As fans of the Birkin - there are numerous photos of them around New York flaunting their collection of the iconic handbag - they drew inspiration from the discreet and functional style of Hermès for the design of their Margaux, as well as for their brand communication. The Row has always been a "quiet" fashion house, not changing its artistic direction to follow a trend, making their sobriety appear more honest. A key factor makes the Margaux a potential successor to the Birkin, namely the impossibility of replication. Prada's Buckle, Louis Vuitton's Speedy, and even Philo's Cabas are characterized by recognizable designs, making it easier to create duplicates, while The Row's Margaux is almost completely devoid of distinctive traits. This can help it escape the media overload phenomenon that harms trends, allowing it to achieve sales records gradually and enduringly. It will take a few years to see if the Margaux will become the new Birkin, if it will also become an investment, as well as an accessory, but perhaps that is precisely the point: the only ones who are currently aware of its value are the fortunate few - who may not be few at all, considering that it is already sold out - who have it in their hands.