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Jane Birkin didn’t believe in destiny, but there must have been a hint of it in the air when she had a chance encounter in 1983 with Jean-Louis Dumas, the artistic director, and CEO of Hermès, on an Air France flight. “Accidents are the best things in existence,” she once stated. From the ’60s through the ’80s, Birken captured the world by storm with a natural-born combination of charisma, impishness, and aptitude—both on screen and on stage. Thus, even to the day of her passing, she remained the embodiment of a global consensus: she was a true style icon. But, that didn’t begin with the creation of the Birkin bag. Before the Birkin, there was just Jane with her wicker basket bag.
It was her hefty basket and its gushing contents that caught the attention of Dumas on that plane. Overflowing with keys, makeup, and the occasional baguette, and often touted alongside an armful of market finds, magazines, pastry boxes, and a fading cigarette, Birkin’s rounded wicker bag was her first hallmark style stamp. With it, she’d merge androgyny with pared-back sexuality. Low-rise worn-in denim and baby tee’s, men’s oxford shirts, bell-bottoms, and even sequined dresses for special occasions—the basket tote, occasionally embellished with a scarf entangled around the handle, was consistently there.
From the seaside to the city, the basket tote has since become a mainstay in our wardrobes. The freedom in which she lived her life became the blueprint for the French Je ne sais quoi we’re all still chasing to this day.
Shop Birkin-esque baskets below in honor of the late, great style icon.
