The History Of The Birkin By Numbers

Everything you need to know about the world's most iconic handbag

It’s been 30 years since style icon Jane Birkin dropped the contents of her straw carry-all mid-flight in front of chief exec of Hermes, and thus 30 years since the creation of the now iconic Birkin handbag.

Since its creation, the Birkin has received worldwide - and not to mention A-list – adoration.

Here’s everything you need to know about one of the worlds most iconic bags…

1981 is the year Hermes chief executive Jean-Louis Dumas met Jane Birkin on a flight from Paris to London

1984 is the year the Birkin was created

2 is the number of bespoke hand-painted Birkin’s owned by Kim Kardashian

18K gold fittings were applied to the most expensive Birkin ever sold. The crocodile number was also encrusted with diamonds, naturally.

£100,100 is the price paid for Jane Birkin’s bag which she sold on eBay in 2011 to raise funds to benefit earthquake relief efforts in Japan.

5 is the number of sizes the Birkin is available in with sizes ranging from 25cm, 30cm, 35cm, 40cm and 45cm.

100+ is the figure Victoria Beckham put on her collection of Birkin bags (before she became a designer, that is)

1 is the number of Hermes Spa’s in Paris, which offers a spa-like treatments for overly-used bags

48 hours is needed for one artisan to create a single Birkin bag

1 is number codes which appear under the Hermes stamp of each gold lock

0 logos appear on the bag

£24,740 was how much David Beckham reportedly splashed out on wife Victoria’s burgundy Birkin – names the bordeaux porosus crocodile

6 is the amount of years for the longest waiting list for a Birkin

2010 was the year Lady Gaga defaced her Birkin bag- first with a marker pen, and then a mass of spikes