How to get a Birkin: be a ‘someone’

You can't walk into a shop and ask to see one...you must be a 'someone' or know a 'someone' just to get started.

Buying a Birkin handbag is not as simple as walking into a shop and asking for one. (AFP pic)

PETALING JAYA: What makes a Hermes Birkin handbag so desirable? Partly because not everyone can get one: you can’t just walk into a Hermes shop and ask to view a Birkin.

Tales have circulated for years about would-be customers placing orders only to be told that they are on a waiting list, but such rumours have yet to be proven.

An industry expert who wished to remain anonymous told FMT that it was the designer label’s unspoken policy to maintain secrecy about how to obtain a Birkin.

“If you walk into a store and ask for it, they will not tell you if it is available. This is a marketing scheme that they practise to make the Birkin even more desirable.

“Some nicer sales people will tell you that you have to wait three years, depending. Even if they have stock in the storeroom, they will not bring it out unless you are someone they are familiar with – for example, an existing or celebrated Birkin customer, or a friend of such a person.”

Otherwise, the expert said, it is unlikely that one would lay eyes on a Birkin handbag.

This scarcity alone makes the Birkin so desirable that customers are willing to pay a minimum of RM50,000 a bag.

A Hermes outlet in Kuala Lumpur.

Each Birkin bag is made from crocodile skin, with a different time frame for completion.

At one time, customers would have needed to place their orders well in advance as it would take time for Hermes to harvest the skin needed to make the bags.

Today, it is believed that the skin is harvested from farmed crocodiles in order to speed up production. Critics also claim that such farming of crocodiles prevents them from going extinct.

Hermes Malaysia would not comment on the Birkin bags and how they could be obtained.

FMT’s source said it was not known if Birkin bags did use the skins of farmed crocodiles. However, Hermes had come under criticism from animal rights activists in the past.

“They’ve been exposed for exploiting a whole crocodile farm to harvest the crocodiles’ skin. For that, they got a bit of backlash from PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).

“But people will still buy, regardless of whether it is crocodile leather, because Birkin handbags are available in different types of leather.”

Handbags made from crocodile skin, however, are among the most expensive, costing up to half a million ringgit, the expert added.

“The Birkin handbags known to belong to Rosmah are made from some of the rarest leather,” the expert said. Rosmah Mansor, the wife of former prime minister Najib Razak, is reputed to have a penchant for Birkin bags.

Earlier this month, authorities seized nearly 300 boxes containing various brands of handbags, including Birkin, from properties linked to Najib’s family.

A designer bag enthusiast, Amy Lu, said the prestige of owning a Hermes Birkin was far above that of most other designer labels.

“I heard that you need someone who is an existing Hermes customer to recommend your purchase. Some say it yields more than gold. I’d believe that, because even my Louis Vuitton and Prada handbags have appreciated in price.

“One of them, I bought at about RM3,000 – today, it is worth about RM10,000. That’s how valuable some designer handbags are.”

Each Hermes handbag is constructed by a single artisan and takes a minimum of 48 hours to complete. Every artisan employed by Hermes has his or her own set of tools which they take with them when they retire. -FMT