When Jane Birkin's boyfriend ran over her beloved wicker basket, she was stuck lugging a messy tote onto a flight to London. As her Hermès planner exploded across the first-class cabin, her mortified seatmate suggested she needed a bag with pockets. ""Hermès doesn't make one with pockets,"" Jane sighed. He replied: ""But I am Hermès."" Jean-Louis Dumas, head of the luxury empire, watched Jane sketch her dream bag on an airplane vomit bag. Three years later, the first-ever Birkin arrived as a gift… kicking off what would become the most expensive, hard-to-get handbag design in the world. But this hand-stitched masterpiece wasn’t always the ultimate status symbol. The Birkin didn’t fit in the logo-obsessed 1980s, and didn’t truly pop off until it landed a starring role on Sex and the City. Today, Birkins start at $12,000 with impossible waitlists, while the rarest sell for $450,000—more than some houses—and have spawned multi-million-dollar counterfeit rings.

Discover how Hermès weaponized scarcity to invent the Holy Grail of handbags; how a luxury product can outperform the stock market; and why the Birkin Bag is the best idea yet.

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